By George & Josh Bate
Reylos were deprived of much on-screen romance between Rey and Kylo Ren in the final installment of the Skywalker Saga, but they will soon have vindication (of sorts) when a popular Reylo fan fiction is adapted into a major motion picture later this year.
Before publishing novels, Ali Hazelwood wrote fan fiction Reylo fan fiction, pairing Adam Driver and Daisy Ridley’s characters from the Star Wars sequel trilogy for a romance the movies never fully explored. Hazelwood published Head Over Feet on AO3 under her pseudonym ‘Ever-So-Reylo.’
Hazelwood’s story featured Rey and Kylo/Ben as central characters but opted for a modern-day setting, rather than a galaxy far, far away. Rey was a graduate student, while Kylo was a professor.
The inciting incident of the story comes in the form of Rey suddenly kissing Kylo to get rid of unwanted attention from General Hux, an obnoxious academic colleague.
From there, Rey and Kylo begin a fake relationship, pretending to date so that everyone believes they are a couple. Over time, however, the fake dating turns real as the two uncover feelings for one another.
While the world and plot are not particularly Star Wars-y, the character dynamics in Head Over Feet certainly are. Kylo is portrayed as brooding, intense, and emotionally repressed, while Rey underestimates her own worth and is competent and idealistic.
Eventually, Hazelwood reworked Head Over Feet into The Love Hypothesis, largely by dropping the more overt references to Star Wars names and lore. Rey became Olive Smith, Kylo/Ben became Adam Carlsen (named after Adam Driver), and the world surrounding the STEM/academic environment in which the two work in was greatly expanded.
The cover art for The Love Hypothesis (illustrated by @lilith_saur) features characters that resemble Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver.
The immense popularity of the New York Times bestseller led Amazon MGM Studios to kickstart a movie adaptation, in turn bringing Reylo fan fiction to live-action for the first time.
Premiering September 23 on Prime Video, The Love Hypothesis stars Lili Reinhart as Olive and Tom Bateman as Dr. Adam Carlsen. Interestingly, Bateman is the real-life husband of Daisy Ridley. This means that the Rey actress’ real-life husband is now playing the Kylo Ren-inspired romantic lead. It’s a bit surreal and connects The Love Hypothesis even more strongly to its Reylo roots.
Check out a trailer for The Love Hypothesis below….
