More than five years after 2019's Star Wars: Episode IX–The Rise of Skywalker closed the Skywalker Saga, the fallout from Disney’s sequel trilogy still lingers. Despite its billion-dollar box office, the 2019 film marked a divisive endpoint for a trilogy that never quite found a consistent tone between directors J.J. Abrams and Rian Johnson.
The sequels introduced a new generation of heroes–Daisy Ridley’s Rey, John Boyega’s Finn, and Oscar Isaac’s Poe Dameron–alongside Adam Driver’s conflicted villain-turned-hero Kylo Ren. His tragic transformation into Ben Solo was among the trilogy’s strongest arcs, but one that concluded abruptly in the final film.
Lucasfilm has since attempted to bridge narrative gaps through additional media–comics, novels, and tie-ins that further explore events between 2017's Star Wars: Episode VII–The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker. Among these was a focus on Kylo Ren’s evolution and Rey’s survival on Jakku. However, as Adam Driver recently revealed, Lucasfilm nearly revisited Ben Solo in a feature-length sequel that was eventually shut down.
“I always was interested in doing another Star Wars,” Driver told Associated Press. “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.”
The actor went on to share that he approached Steven Soderbergh with the idea of developing a new story. “Soderbergh and Rebecca Blunt outlined a story that the group then pitched to Kennedy, Lucasfilm vice president Cary Beck, and Lucasfilm chief creative officer Dave Filoni,” the outlet wrote. “They were interested, so the filmmakers then pulled in Scott Z. Burns to write a script.”
The working title was The Hunt for Ben Solo, and according to Driver, the script impressed Lucasfilm’s creative team. “We presented the script to Lucasfilm. They loved the idea. They totally understood our angle and why we were doing it,” he said. “We took it to Bob Iger ([Disney CEO]) and Alan Bergman ([co-Chairman of Disney Entertainment]), and they said no. They didn’t see how Ben Solo was alive. And that was that.”
While Disney’s hesitation is understandable given the contentious reaction to the sequels, the project would have offered the rare chance to explore Ben Solo’s redemption and survival after The Rise of Skywalker. Yet, the company chose to focus its attention elsewhere–specifically, the expanding New Republic timeline that has driven The Mandalorian and its upcoming film, The Mandalorian and Grogu (2026).
Next on Lucasfilm’s theatrical slate is Shawn Levy’s Star Wars: Starfighter (2027), set after the sequel trilogy but detached from its characters. The previously announced Daisy Ridley-led “New Jedi Order” film, first revealed by Kathleen Kennedy in 2023, has since stalled in development.
With a more streamlined slate of live-action series and films ahead, Lucasfilm seems to be entering a transitional phase–one that distances itself from the Skywalker Saga while experimenting with fresh stories. For now, The Hunt for Ben Solo will remain one of those fascinating Hollywood near-misses–a reminder that even in a galaxy as vast as Star Wars, not every story gets to be told.
