J.J. Abrams said:
“Kylo Ren is not a Sith, he works under Supreme Leader Snoke, who is a powerful figure on the Dark Side of the Force. That all came out of conversations about what would have happened if the Nazis all went to Argentina but then started working together again? What could be born of that? Could The First Order exist as a group that actually admired The Empire? Could the work of The Empire be seen as unfulfilled? And could Vader be a martyr? Could there be a need to see through what didn’t get done?”