More often than not, being a Star Wars fan can be a roller coaster ride. From movies that grow into cult classics over time, to baffling plot decisions made in the franchise’s extended canon, to the laundry list of scrapped or cancelled projects, there’s a lot to have a lot of feelings about.
That has especially been the case as the franchise has tried to get back onto the big screen, with the last new theatrical release being 2019’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. A number of movies have ebbed and flowed out of development since then, with next year’s The Mandalorian and Grogu set to be the next blockbuster in the saga. Shawn Levy’s Star Wars: Starfighter is also currently filming, and a handful of other films spanning centuries of canon are in the works. While those have provoked their fair share of chatter online, the news of a project that won’t see the light of day has taken the Internet by storm.
In a recent interview with AP, Adam Driver revealed that he and Logan Lucky and Black Bag director Steven Soderbergh were working on a new Star Wars film that would have seen him return to his Sequel Trilogy role of Ben Solo / Kylo Ren. The story, called The Hunt for Ben Solo, was pitched by Soderbergh and Rebecca Blunt, with Contagion and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story alum Scott Z. Burns being brought on to write what Driver calls “one of the coolest (expletive) scripts I had ever been a part of.”
“We presented the script to Lucasfilm,” Driver explained. “They loved the idea. They totally understood our angle and why we were doing it,” Driver says. “We took it to Bob Iger and Alan Bergman and they said no. They didn’t see how Ben Solo was alive. And that was that.”
“It was called The Hunt for Ben Solo and it was really cool,” Driver added. “But it is no more, so I can finally talk about it.”
Soderbergh also weighed in on the news, writing in a statement that, “I really enjoyed making the movie in my head. I’m just sorry the fans won’t get to see it.”
I am in mourning…
This news has shattered a lot of hearts on the Internet: for Ben Solo and Reylo fans who didn’t know they could have potentially seen the character onscreen again, and for film buffs who are marveling at the idea of Soderbergh joining the Star Wars universe. (Suddenly, the fact that he rewatched a bunch of Star Wars movies in 2024 make a lot more sense.)
While we might never know exactly what the plot of The Hunt for Ben Solo would have been like, it’s incredibly easy to see the vision. Sure, he technically “died” during the events of The Rise of Skywalker, but even that movie proved that characters can return in any way, shape, or form. And maybe The Hunt for Ben Solo would have made good use of the Knights of Ren, whose cool costumes and weapons were introduced and then woefully underutilized onscreen.
This news also hits harder given the recent ten-year anniversary of the first teaser trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which led the Internet to reminisce about the cultural chokehold it had on all of us in 2015. While opinions continue to vary on the Disney (and Disney+) era of Star Wars, fans have argued that the deluge of streaming shows and the larger direction of the franchise in recent years have made the franchise feel less special. As one viral tweet on the topic put it, “Star Wars should make you feel like going to grandma’s every other year for that special holiday meal on good china. An event.”
That’s not to say that The Hunt for Ben Solo would have magically fixed everything, especially when the lasting legacy of the Sequel Trilogy is still ebbing and flowing to this day. (We’ll see how the Rey-focused New Jedi Order movie is received, if and when it becomes a reality.) But The Hunt for Ben Solo still sounds like a project that had a clear and compelling artistic vision behind it, from a director who audiences might not have expected to ever see enter this big franchise space. That’s something I will always want to see… but especially would want to see in a galaxy far, far away.
(featured image: Lucasfilm)
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