Adam Driver has been spilling the beans about a Star Wars movie he nearly got made, so here’s what we know about The Hunt for Ben Solo, and why he might now be following in Ryan Reynolds’ footsteps.
Adam Driver played Kylo Ren across three Star Wars movies – The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and The Rise of Skywalker.
Driver has previously spoken about the fact that he envisioned his character’s story playing out like an inversion of Darth Vader’s journey, but that ultimately wasn’t to be.
So the actor took matters into his own hands, via a movie called The Hunt for Ben Solo that he developed with Steven Soderbergh, but which was ultimately rejected by Disney. Now the project is public, however, there might be a new hope…
What is The Hunt for Ben Solo?
Before he turned to the Dark Side, Kylo Ren was Ben Solo, son of Han and Leia, so while The Hunt for Ben Solo would presumably play out after the events of The Rise of Skywalker, the story would potentially be about locating the character, but also about the character finding himself.
Driver revealed his plans to the Associated Press, explaining: “I always was interested in doing another Star Wars. I had been talking about doing another one since 2021. Kathleen [Kennedy] had reached out. I always said: ‘With a great director and a great story, I’d be there in a second.’ I loved that character and loved playing him.”
He therefore took a concept to Steven Soderbergh, who outlined a story with Rebecca Blunt, that was then pitched to Kennedy, Lucasfilm chief creative officer Dave Filoni, and Lucasfulm vice president Cary Beck.
Longtime Soderbergh collaborator Scott Z. Burns – who did an uncredited rewrite on Rogue One – then worked on a script that Driver calls one of the “coolest” he’s ever been part of.
Disney says no to Ben Solo, fans say yes
Driver then presented the script to Lucasfilm, and says that “They loved the idea. They totally understood our angle and why we were doing it.”
But then they hit a brick wall at Disney. “We took it to Bob Iger and Alan Bergman and they said no,” explains Driver. “They didn’t see how Ben Solo was alive. And that was that.”
Which is a response that has drawn criticism online, largely due to the fact that Emperor Palpatine was very much dead in the Star Wars universe, until Poe Dameron piped up with the line that he’s “somehow,” still alive. Suggesting the franchise had already brought characters back without the need for much explanation.
Which has had fans posting funny responses on Twitter/X, with one writing: “What do you mean Adam Driver and Steven Soderbergh were developing a Kylo Ren Star Wars movie, and Disney, the company of ‘somehow Palpatine returned,’ was like ‘we don’t see how he can come back.'”
Another compares those contrasting approaches: “Disney Star Wars in 2019: ‘somehow, Palpatine returned.’ Disney Star Wars now ‘we don’t know how Ben Solo can come back, like yeah sure there’s a whole script about it but it’s not believable.'”
One fan has advice for Disney: “Let me help Bob & Alan understand how this could work by using established Star Wars canon. ‘Somehow Ben Solo has returned…’ Seriously. Come on! Put in the crawl. We/I need more Adam Driver in Star Wars.”
While another is just grateful for Andor: “A Steven Soderbergh Star Wars movie and Disney who was fine with Palpatine who got tossed down a shaft and exploded, coming back from the dead… said no to this project. I dont know what stars aligned for us to get Andor but thank God they somehow did.”
One presumes that Adam Driver signed an NDA while working on a potential new Star Wars movie for Lucasfilm and Disney, so it’s interesting that he’s going on the record now.
While speaking to the Associated Press, he simply says of the timing, “It was really cool, but it is no more, so I can finally talk about it.” While in a statement, Soderbergh told AP: “I really enjoyed making the movie in my head. I’m just sorry the fans won’t get to see it.”
But could they have an ulterior motive for speaking about The Hunt for Ben Solo? One that’s inspired by Ryan Reynolds? As back in the day, the Deadpool star definitely wasn’t involved in leaking footage that led directly to the Merc with a Mouth’s movie being made.
In 2011, Reynolds and director Tim Miller crafted a two-minute “concept reel” to convince 20th Century Fox to bank-roll a standalone Deadpool movie. It didn’t have the desired effect, and so the Deadpool movie was effectively dead.
Then on the 27th July 2014 – the last day of that year’s San Diego Comic-Con – that test footage appeared on the Internet, fans went crazy for it, and weeks later, the studio green-lit the movie.
To this day no one knows who was behind that leak, with some claiming it to be a clever marketing ploy on the part of the studio itself. But the smart money is on Ryan Reynolds being responsible, in an effort to get his dream project off the ground. Indeed, the actor himself later joked that he’s “70% sure” it wasn’t him.
So are Driver and Soderbergh pulling a Deadpool to get their own Star Wars dream going? Only time will tell, but mere hours after the news dropped, social media was awash with fans demanding Disney make The Hunt for Ben Solo, so watch this space…
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