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Credit: LucasfilmThe movie that will never be.
Despite creeping over the $1 billion mark, Star Wars: Episode IX–The Rise of Skywalker (2019) was a tepid end to a muddled sequel trilogy. In fact, the Star Wars franchise is still paying the price of the messy trio of movies all these years on, with retcons, added media, and new context shared to settle the questions left by J. J. Abrams’ divisive finale.
It wasn’t just The Rise of Skywalker, though, that struggled to get fans on side. Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: Episode VIII—The Last Jedi (2017) fractured the fandom quite significantly, so much so that many hoped Disney and Lucasfilm would scrap the sequels altogether. That wasn’t the case, however, and Lucasfilm brought back Abrams—following his directing of Star Wars: Episode VII—The Force Awakens (2017)—to close out the polarizing trilogy.
Starring newcomer Daisy Ridley as Rey, the sequels introduced many new characters like John Boyega’s Finn, Oscar Isaac’s Resistance pilot Poe Dameron, and Adam Driver as Jedi apprentice turned agent of the First Order, Kylo Ren. As one of the more interesting characters, fans were also let down by Kylo Ren’s storyline, which included facing his own Knights of Ren, becoming a Force Dyad with Rey, and ultimately dying–as Ben Solo–in her arms.
Over the years, Star Wars has opted to address some of the more confusing issues (including Ian McDiarmid’s return as Emperor Palpatine) through additional media like comic books, TV shows, and novels. In fact, the recent comic adaptation of The Rise of Skywalker changed the final moments of the 2019 movie.
Multiple characters have been the center of these new stories, with notable injections including a Kylo Ren-focused story set between The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker, and the recent Rey project, “Jaws of Jakku,” which also exists in that timeframe.
It seems, though, that Lucasfilm wanted to return to Driver’s character for a feature film set after The Rise of Skywalker.
“I always was interested in doing another Star Wars,” Adam 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 driver explained that he took the concept of a Kylo Ren return feature to Steven Soderbergh.
“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.”
Even though Driver called the script “one of the [coolest] scripts” he’s ever been a part of, the project was eventually cut by The Walt Disney Company.
“We presented the script to Lucasfilm. They loved the idea. They totally understood our angle and why we were doing it,” Driver 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.”
Driver revealed it was to be called The Hunt for Ben Solo.
While the question of how Kylo Ren was still alive may have been the leading concern, it would be remiss not to acknowledge the overall response to the sequel trilogy and how delving back into that space so soon after such a controversial ending was perhaps not the best idea.
When Shawn Levy’s Star Wars: Starfighter (2027)–a post-sequel standalone–comes out in just under two years, it will be eight years since Disney explored that area of the timeline. In those years, Disney opted to channel the energy into broadening the New Republic era, the time set between the original and sequel trilogies, with the Mando-Verse, which itself will be breaking the big screen drought next May, with Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian and Grogu (2026).
There is no confirmed project that includes the characters from the sequel trilogy. Back in 2023, Kathleen Kennedy announced three movies, including one focusing on Daisy Ridley’s Rey Skywalker and set in the “New Jedi Order” timeline years after The Rise of Skywalker. However, in the two years since then, the project has reportedly been stalled, and Levy’s Starfighter was speedily brought forward. This is not a good sign for the film that was set to be the franchise’s big return to the post-sequel era.
It will be interesting to see where Lucasfilm goes next. With a slimmed-down live-action TV slate, the seeming end to The Mandalorian series coming next May, and the standalone nature of Starfighter, Star Wars is clearly entering a whole new era. But will fans stay faithful to the galaxy far, far away and stick along for the ride?
How do you feel about Disney canceling this Kylo Ren movie? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!