Adam Driver’s Ben Solo ‘Star Wars’ Movie Could Come Back to Life

Fans were disappointed to learn that Adam Driver was no longer going to return to a galaxy as far away as Ben Solo after revealing that top Disney executives couldn’t figure out how his “Star Wars” character could come back to life after the events of 2019’s “The Rise of Skywalker.” However, during Kathleen Kennedy’s exit interview, she revealed that the storyline was on the back burner, seemingly rekindling hope that Driver’s passion project might not be as dead as it was seemed so in the past.

Adam Driver played Kylo Ren in 2015’s “The Force Awakens,” 2017’s “The Last Jedi” and 2019’s “The Rise of Skywalker.” It was in the latter film that the son of Han Solo and Princess Leia returned to the light and joined Rey (Daisy Ridley) in the fight against Emperor Palpatine as the redeemed Ben Solo. However, Rey was mortally wounded during the battle and Ben Solo gave her his energy to bring her back to life. Once Rey was resurrected, Ben Solo disappeared into the Force, seemingly gone for good.

But was he? Fans note that Ben Solo never made an appearance at the end of the film, and many have expressed hope that he could somehow survive thanks to the Force dyad the two shared. Even though fans were hoping that Ben Solo was still alive, it seems that Disney’s higher-ups couldn’t get behind the idea.

While promoting another film, Adam Driver revealed that the project had the support of Lucasfilm executives like Kathleen Kennedy and Dave Filoni. Unfortunately, Disney CEO Bob Iger couldn’t understand why Ben Solo was still alive and stopped the project from moving forward despite having a completed storyline.

The driver told the Associated Press that he and director Steven Soderbergh spent two years working on a film with a script created by writer Scott Z. Burns after gaining approval from Kennedy, Lucasfilm vice president Cary Beck, and Lucasfilm chief creative officer Dave Filoni.

“We pitched the script to Lucasfilm. They loved the idea. They totally understood our angle and why we were doing it,” Driver said. “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 it.”

He added, “It was called ‘The Hunt for Ben Solo’ and it was really cool,” adding, “But it’s not anymore, so I can finally talk about it.”

Although Driver’s comments made it seem like the project was finished for good, Kathleen Kennedy’s exit interview with Deadline hinted that it was possible that “The Hunt For Ben Solo” could still see the light of day.

“And as you read, Steve Soderbergh and Adam Driver shot a script written by Scott Burns. It was just brilliant. Anything is possible if someone is willing to take a risk,” Kennedy told the publication.

Later, when discussing various other projects in the works, Kennedy revealed, “The Mangold one is really on the back burner, as is the Soderbergh one. I think the Taika and Donald ones are still somewhat alive. It’ll really be up to the new team to figure that out.”

Declaring that the film was “on the back burner” and not outright canceled brought new hope to “Star Wars” fans that Ben Solo could yet return to a galaxy far, far away.