{"id":546817,"date":"2025-11-03T19:09:19","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T19:09:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/546817\/"},"modified":"2025-11-03T19:09:19","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T19:09:19","slug":"the-star-wars-sequel-revival-begins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/546817\/","title":{"rendered":"The Star Wars Sequel Revival Begins"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ben Solo\u2019s not dead. Not going by my social media feed, anyway. Ever since Adam Driver divulged that he \u2013 along with filmmaker Steven Soderbergh \u2013 had recently spent years cooking up his possible return to Star Wars<\/a>, in a film titled The Hunt For Ben Solo<\/a>, only for it to be quashed by the higher powers at Disney, Ben Solo has been everywhere. Abundant GIFs of the redeemed villain wielding that blue lightsaber on Exegol, from Episode IX \u2013 The Rise Of Skywalker<\/a>. \u2018Missing\u2019 posters, with images of Driver\u2019s face, saying \u2018HAVE YOU SEEN THIS MAN?\u2019 Even photos of a plane hired to fly over the Disney studios, with the hashtag \u2018SAVE #THEHUNTFORBENSOLO\u2019. It\u2019s just like Luke said to Leia in The Last Jedi<\/a>: \u201cNo-one\u2019s ever really gone.\u201d<\/p>\n

So just how gone is The Hunt For Ben Solo? For now, quite gone. (Not Qui-Gon, to be clear.) Hence why Driver and Soderbergh have started talking about the project publicly \u2013 per Driver\u2019s own words, to the Associated Press<\/a>, \u201cit is no more, so I can finally talk about it.\u201d The ones who drove the lightsaber through Solo\u2019s attempted revival? Current Disney CEO, Bob Iger, and Co-Chairman of Disney Entertainment, Alan Bergman. \u201cThey said no,\u201d Driver explains. \u201cThey didn\u2019t see how Ben Solo was alive. And that was that.\u201d Or it was, until the internet got hold of it.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

These things have a way of taking on a life of their own. Previously, fan clamouring has seen Ryan Reynolds given the greenlight to play Deadpool properly (to the tune of nearly $3 billion in box office), and encouraged Warners stump up an additional $70 million to make Zack Snyder\u2019s Justice League<\/a> a reality. Perhaps Driver and Soderbergh\u2019s comments were intended to spark the project back to life through sheer fan enthusiasm (or, outrage). Or maybe they really do see it as dead and gone, until the point that perhaps it isn\u2019t any more.<\/p>\n

\n

The Star Wars sequels were gigantic hits. The story of Kylo Ren was a huge part of that experience.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

What is notable is the volume of excitement for the film, from all corners of the Star Wars fandom \u2013 not just those who have long defended the sequel films from its more hostile factions. It helps that Driver described The Hunt For Ben Solo as \u201cone of the coolest [expletive] scripts I had ever been a part of\u201d, penned by Scott Z. Burns from a story by Soderbergh and Rebecca Blunt; and that that script was approved within Lucasfilm, by Kathleen Kennedy, Carrie Beck, and Dave Filoni. But the outpouring of love from fans makes sense: whatever the discourse over the years, the Star Wars sequels were gigantic hits, seen by millions of people, and largely beloved on release. The story of Kylo Ren \u2013 aka Ben Solo \u2013 was a huge part of that experience.<\/p>\n

\"Star<\/p>\n

Now is the time for the Star Wars sequel revival. This year marks a decade since The Force Awakens<\/a> arrived in cinemas \u2013 insert GIF of Donovan drinking from the wrong Grail in The Last Crusade here \u2013 meaning youngsters who were 10 when they first saw Episode VII are now entering their young adulthood. Star Wars is cyclical, generational; it rhymes. In the six years since The Rise Of Skywalker, the saga has looked elsewhere \u2013 further prequel- and original trilogy-era expansions in animation and live action, and the exploration of the New Republic era through The Mandalorian<\/a>. The sequel era has remained untouched. Fans have had long enough to miss Kylo Ren \u2013 and Rey, and Finn, and Poe Dameron<\/a>. Their return would be a genuine event.<\/p>\n

\n

There are ways to bring Ben back without undermining the stakes that the Star Wars galaxy needs.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

It does seem like Star Wars is looking to push into the future again. Shawn Levy\u2019s currently-in-production Star Wars: Starfighter<\/a> is said to be set five years post-The Rise Of Skywalker, while Lucasfilm has long confirmed Daisy Ridley\u2019s eventual return as Rey<\/a>. The Hunt For Ben Solo would have arrived exactly at the right time, cresting with the re-appreciation of a trilogy that has so much to love about it.<\/p>\n

According to Driver, Iger and Bergman had one big issue with the whole project: Ben Solo is dead. And they have a point. But you\u2019d have to imagine all involved found a creative solution to this, since Lucasfilm \u2013 including Filoni, in charge of overseeing the creative direction of the saga as a whole \u2013 said yes to the film. Even the title, The Hunt For Ben Solo, implies some kinds of quest; perhaps it\u2019s not as easy as him simply being alive again.<\/p>\n

\"Star<\/p>\n

There are ways to bring Ben back without undermining the stakes that the Star Wars galaxy needs. Many have cited the World Between Worlds \u2013 a physical manifestation of the Force \u2013 as a possibility. (Though, the WBW is meant to be more about knowledge and wisdom through the Force, a place where all time exists, rather than a means of resurrection or time-travel.) More compelling would be an exploration of the \u2018Force Dyad\u2019, the mysterious power that binds Rey and Kylo Ren \u2013 one the descendent of Palpatine, the other of Anakin Skywalker, their destinies and life-force entwined. It\u2019s a power unique to these characters; employing it to revive Ben Solo would be a once-in-a-galaxy occurrence, rather than a get-out-of-jail-free card that cheapens the saga as a whole.<\/p>\n

Either way, Adam Driver wants Ben Solo to return. Steven Soderbergh and Rebecca Blunt and Scott Z. Burns want Ben Solo to return. Kathleen Kennedy, Dave Filoni, and the powers at Lucasfilm want Ben Solo to return. Reylos want Ben Solo to return; sequel haters want Ben Solo to return; casual Star Wars fans want Ben Solo to return. Hell, I want Ben Solo to return. Maybe Disney will see there\u2019s something in it. Say it all together: \u201cNo-one\u2019s ever really gone.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ben Solo\u2019s not dead. Not going by my social media feed, anyway. Ever since Adam Driver divulged that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":546818,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3935],"tags":[77,3943,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-546817","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-movies","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115487347747735897","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=546817"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546817\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/546818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=546817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=546817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=546817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}