A 'Star Wars' Series Or Feature Film About Ben Solo Could Be In The Works At Lucasfilm

Kylo Ren became a popular character among some Star Wars fans over the course of the sequel trilogy, during which he was depicted as a villain, somewhat of an anti-hero, and, by the end, a hero. While people have varying opinions over how his characterization and fate were executed, lots of fans have become very familiar with Kylo Ren, originally born as Ben Solo.

This Sunday, over on Twitter, Corey Van Dyke (@Corey_Wolfpack) of Kessel Run Transmissions mentioned rumblings of a Ben Solo series possibly in development at Lucasfilm: “We’ve heard Ben Solo is a character Lucasfilm wants to further develop. We don’t know if this is a series or movie, but it’s definitely being worked on. We also don’t know if this is pre TFA or post TROS, but if I were to guess I’d say pre TFA. Again, this is in early development.”

According to Van Dyke, there has been no word about Adam Driver being involved. Unless the show were to take place when Ben is much younger (Ben is about 23 when he leaves Luke Skywalker to join Snoke), it would be odd to have anyone else play Ben Solo. The lack of Driver-driven discussions has led Van Dyke to believe that the project could take place when Ben is much younger, or even be an animated series: “We’ve also heard nothing about Adam Driver being attached to the project which leads me to believe this could be animated or a young Ben Solo featured in a live action series.” Given that Lucasfilm has been pretty good at reusing actors for their live-action portrayals across media (for example, Ewan McGregor returning to portray Obi-Wan Kenobi, or Jimmy Smits and Genevieve O’Reilly returning for Rogue One), it would be a bit odd to have anyone other than Adam Driver portray a live-action 20-something Ben Solo.

Van Dyke continued to talk about the popularity of the character: “The big thing here is LFL is very aware of Ben’s popularity and they do want to continue his story in some form. This is the other sequel trilogy character that we’ve been hearing about for months.”

With the end of The Rise of Skywalker having depicted Ben Solo’s death, it would not really make sense for a project focused on him to be set post-TROS. Theoretically, it could follow Supreme Leader Kylo Ren between The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker. However, Jordan Maison, who has written articles on StarWars.com in the past, later replied with, “*Cough* Pre-TFA *cough.*” If he does know anything (which is unclear at the moment), then it seems we are in for a pre-TFA project, which seems to be the most likely possibility anyway.

This still does not quite pinpoint the chronological setting. There is a six-year gap between Ben leaving Luke and the events of The Force Awakens. His actions before and after the confrontation with Luke (which was depicted via flashbacks in The Last Jedi) were covered in Charles Soule’s comic book miniseries The Rise of Kylo Ren, which also included flashbacks to when Ben is younger and training under Luke. According to The Rise of Skywalker: The Visual Dictionary, Ben began his Jedi training 19 years before The Force Awakens, which would place him at 10 years old at that time. And if the likes of Han, Luke, and Leia are around, then it would make more sense to have an animated series rather than de-age or recast the characters in live-action.

While there may be some fans who would like to see a series depicting Kylo Ren’s training in the dark side during the aforementioned six-year gap, I would personally prefer a series set during his early years training as a Jedi. We could see him and Luke going on adventures that are unfamiliar to us and not too closely tied to the eventual conflict with the First Order, at least for a time. We already know where he ends up, and the closer we are to his fall, the more pointless the series seems to me. In my eyes, one of the disadvantages in the depiction of Ben Solo’s characterization is that there was not as much time spent exploring who he was as a person long before his descent. It is clear that he means a lot to his family, but the lack of exploration makes the execution of his redemption feel a bit rushed and wonky to me. It was great to see him on the light side, but I still feel like I do not really know Ben Solo very well.

Compare that to Jacen Solo, Han and Leia’s first son in Legends. The Young Jedi Knights book series depicted him as a 13-14-year-old who told corny jokes. Over the course of the New Jedi Order novel series, he evolved and went through changes thanks to the Yuuzhan Vong War, but readers knew who he was beforehand. Then came further evolution in the The Dark Nest Trilogy, and then his fall to the dark side in the Legacy of the Force novels. In the final book, Invincible, chapters begin with Jacen Solo quotes from Young Jedi Knights, and it can be heartbreaking seeing the innocent jokes contrast with the monster that he has become. In a Ben Solo series, I want to see a Ben Solo who makes it feel all the more tragic to see him do evil things in the sequel trilogy. Whoever that Ben Solo was could be extrapolated a bit via moments in The Rise of Kylo Ren and The Rise of Skywalker. Just as The Clone Wars made Anakin Skywalker a more likable character to some, an animated series could do the same for Ben Solo, thus enhancing one’s enjoyment of that character’s journey in the sequel trilogy.

Written By Steven Shinder

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