That’s the question over at Empire Magazine as they look at The Hunt For Ben Solo and all the furore surrounding that surprising revelation last week, looking at the reaction of the fandom, how Solo could return and wondering whether this marks a turn in the public perception of the films as interest in this project swells.
Ben Solo’s not dead. Not going by my social media feed, anyway. Ever since Adam Driver divulged that he – along with filmmaker Steven Soderbergh – had recently spent years cooking up his possible return to Star Wars, in a film titled The Hunt For Ben Solo, 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 – The Rise Of Skywalker. ‘Missing’ posters, with images of Driver’s face, saying ‘HAVE YOU SEEN THIS MAN?’ Even photos of a plane hired to fly over the Disney studios, with the hashtag ‘SAVE #THEHUNTFORBENSOLO’. It’s just like Luke said to Leia in The Last Jedi: “No-one’s ever really gone.”
What is notable is the volume of excitement for the film, from all corners of the Star Wars fandom – 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 “one of the coolest [expletive] scripts I had ever been a part of”, 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 – aka Ben Solo – was a huge part of that experience.
