Is Disney Really About to “Hunt” for Ben Solo?
Okay, I’ll admit it, this one’s wild.
Adam Driver recently told the Associated Press that he and legendary director Steven Soderbergh actually spent two years independently developing a Star Wars movie centered on Ben Solo… only for Disney to shoot it down.
That’s right, a legit Kylo Ren redemption story that never made it past the studio gates.
And now? The internet’s acting like it’s the second coming of the Skywalker saga.
You can’t go five minutes online without seeing headlines like “Fans Demand The Hunt for Ben Solo” or “Billboards Appear Outside Disney Studios.”
Collider, Variety, Deadline, Empire it seems like everyone’s running with it.
Empire Magazine even called the fan enthusiasm “the start of the Star Wars sequel revival.”
Now that is a BOLD claim, considering how split that trilogy left the fandom.
But here’s the part that gets me.
Adam Driver called it “one of the coolest scripts I’ve ever been a part of.”
Soderbergh said he’s “just sorry the fans won’t get to see it.”
That’s not exactly a throwaway side project in my opinion… that sounds like something both men believed in.
Still, it’s worth remembering how this franchise got here. The sequel trilogy’s box office told the story in real time
The Force Awakens – $2 billion worldwide
The Last Jedi – $1.3 billion
The Rise of Skywalker – $1 billion (and rumor has it, it barely broke even)
Each film pulled in less than the last. The audience wasn’t expanding… it was shrinking.
So where was all this “Ben Solo love” back then?
That’s the question I ask.
Has time made fans nostalgic for Kylo Ren? Or is this just another case of fandom irony evolving into full blown meme magic?
Because, let’s be honest, nothing goes viral faster than “We want the movie Disney refused to make.” (Remember #ReleaseTheSnyderCut?)
I don’t know if The Hunt for Ben Solo will ever actually happen… but I kind of hope it does.
I am a fan of Ben Solo… but most importantly I am a fan of the Skywalker lineage.
But, will Disney cave to fan pressure? Or is this just another meme destined to fade faster than Anakin’s lightsaber in the sand?
Either way, I’m watching this one closely.
Because if Driver and Soderbergh really had something special and Lucasfilm actually said no, then maybe, just maybe, The Hunt for Ben Solo will become the next great “what if” in Star Wars history.
