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Credit: LucasfilmStar of The Walt Disney Company’s Star Wars sequel trilogy, Adam Driver, dropped the “real” reason Lucasfilm killed Harrison Ford’s iconic Han Solo.
Actor Adam Driver was a guest on the most recent episode of Saturday Night Live (SNL) and in his song to Santa Claus, jokingly revealed the “real” reason that Han Solo (Harrison Ford) was killed in the Star Wars sequel trilogy. Ford, along with other icons like Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) and Carrie Fisher (General Leia Organa), returned to the galaxy far, far away for Disney’s splashy new entry.
Much to the surprise and upset of fans, Ford’s iconic Han Solo was killed by his son, Kylo Ren/Ben Solo (Driver), in the final moments of Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens (2015). Speared by Ren’s lightsaber, the shocking moment resulted in the death of one of the franchise’s most beloved and cherished characters. The moment, while propelling the narrative of Ben Solo’s fall from Jedi grace, divided viewers and critics.
And it’s a moment that Driver says he has to deal with on a regular basis. “Somebody reminds me about that every day,” Driver said on Who’s Talking To Chris Wallace? (via Deadline) “Not every day, but yeah, it used to be more, but now it’s probably once a month somewhere.”
But over on SNL, Driver revealed that it was not he who killed the great Han Solo in the Star Wars film, but something else altogether. In his song to Santa Claus, Driver claimed “wokeness” killed Han Solo. “I’d like people to stop coming up to me on the street, saying ‘you killed Han Solo,’ I didn’t kill Han Solo, wokeness killed Han Solo.”
After landing the joke, the audience gasped before the Academy Award-nominated actor carried on with his opening monologue, announcing that Olivia Rodrigo would be the show’s musical guest. Driver’s joke is increasingly relevant as Disney’s apparent “wokeness” is being cited as the reason the company is majorly struggling in its film and TV output. Something Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger alluded to when he spoke of messaging in recent Disney and Pixar movies.
The Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
The Star Wars sequels are some of the most divisive major franchise films in history. After The Walt Disney Company acquired Lucasfilm from George Lucas in 2012, the House of Mouse got quick to work on bringing fans of Star Wars back to the galaxy far, far away.
In 2015, the first movie, The Force Awakens, debuted and introduced a whole host of new characters, including Driver’s Kylo Ren, Daisy Ridley’s Rey, John Boyega’s Finn, and Oscar Isaac’s Resistance pilot, Poe Dameron. The new stars of the Star Wars franchise were joined by the original trilogy actors, Hamill, Ford, and Fisher, who reprised their respective roles from almost four decades previous.
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The Force Awakens, while following a similar path to Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope (1977), was widely well-received. It wasn’t until the sequels, Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi (2017) and J.J. Abrams’s Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker (2019), that things became a little more heated.
The haphazard nature of the Star Wars sequel trilogy has been a problem for many fans, with some laying the blame at Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy’s feet. Kennedy said last year that the franchise would be moving away from the Skywalker Saga in its movie output and that new films “had been in movement all along.”
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With the sequels remaining a point of contention years later, Lucasfilm will, at some point, return to movie-making. There have been no movies released since The Rise of Skywalker, and none currently filming. However, a number are in some form of production. There’s Taika Waititi’s, which will “piss people off,” according to the Thor director.
And then, earlier this year at Star Wars Celebration Europe 2023, Kennedy revealed three more movies were happening, taking place at different points on the great Star Wars timeline. One from James Mangold exploring the origins of The Force. Another from Dave Filoni, bringing together the various elements of the “Mando-Verse.” And a third from Sharmeen-Obaid Chinoy, which will act as the official sequel to the Star Wars sequel trilogy, with Rey Skywalker (Ridley) leading the New Jedi Order era.
What do you think the reason behind Han Solo’s death in the Star Wars sequel trilogy was? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!