Adam Driver has closed the door on Kylo Ren. The 42-year-old actor confirmed during a recent appearance on The Rich Eisen Show that his time in the Star Wars galaxy is finished, and the proposed standalone film The Hunt for Ben Solo will not be moving forward. The news ends months of fan campaigning to revive a project that Driver and director Steven Soderbergh spent two years developing.
What Adam Driver Said About Kylo Ren
Eisen asked Driver directly whether he thought he would ever play the villain again. The actor’s answer was quick.
“Yeah, it’s over… No more Star Wars.”
Driver then explained that a second attempt was made. “We tried to do one more,” he said, “but they’re like, ‘No, he’s dead.’” He was referring to Disney executives Bob Iger and Alan Bergman, who rejected the screenplay for The Hunt for Ben Solo.
When Eisen pressed further and asked whether Driver would return if someone revived the project, the actor left a small opening but made his expectations clear. “If they wanted to, fine. But we’re not… It’s not our call,” Driver said. “I think the ship has sailed though.”
Inside The Hunt for Ben Solo Pitch
The film was not a vague idea. Driver and Soderbergh worked on it for two years with screenwriters Scott Z. Burns and Rebecca Blunt. Driver described the script as “really good” and “really cool.”
“We worked on it for a few years, really and earnestly for two years. We got a script together that was really good with Scott Burns and Rebecca Blunt and Soderbergh and I, and we all worked on it. It was really cool, but I don’t get to decide.”
The story would have followed Ben Solo after the events of The Rise of Skywalker, on a journey of redemption. Soderbergh was attached to direct and had a plan to make the film on a smaller budget compared to previous Star Wars projects. “The idea of how he was gonna shoot it was gonna be cheap,” Driver said. “Not cheap like it was gonna be sh—ty. It was gonna be very produced, but the way that we were gonna make it… we didn’t even get to that stage.”
Lucasfilm leadership, including Kathleen Kennedy, responded positively to the pitch. “We presented the script to Lucasfilm,” Driver said. “They loved the idea. They totally understood our angle and why we were doing it.” The rejection came from Disney. “They didn’t see how Ben Solo was alive. And that was that.”
Soderbergh later shared his own frustration. “We were all frustrated,” he told Brooklyn Magazine. “That was two-and-a-half years of free work for me and Adam and Rebecca Blunt. The stated reason was ‘We don’t think Ben Solo could be alive.’ And that was all we were told.”
Fans Flew Planes Over Disney for Ben Solo
Driver acknowledged the scale of the fan response to the rejected film, which he described as “pretty incredible.”
“I didn’t expect that it was going to be billboards and people flying planes over Disney and things like that. That was pretty cool.”
A group of Star Wars fans paid for a plane to fly a banner reading “Save The Hunt for Ben Solo” over Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. A billboard also appeared in New York City’s Times Square with the message “For Adam. No one’s ever really gone.” The campaign became one of the most visible fan-driven efforts around a cancelled project in recent Star Wars history.
The Full Story of Ben Solo and Kylo Ren
Ben Solo’s journey from promising Jedi to Supreme Leader and back to the light is the central arc of the Star Wars sequel trilogy. Understanding that story explains why Disney’s rejection of The Hunt for Ben Solo landed so hard with fans.
Born into Legacy
Ben Solo is the son of Han Solo and Leia Organa, and the nephew of Luke Skywalker. He was born after the Battle of Endor and carried the Skywalker bloodline through his mother’s side, making him the grandson of Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader.
He trained as a Jedi under Luke at the new Jedi temple. Luke saw immense potential in his nephew. Ben was described as Luke’s “most promising pupil.” But Ben’s power came with a vulnerability. Supreme Leader Snoke, a dark side user operating through the First Order, began influencing Ben from a young age.
The Fall to the Dark Side
Luke sensed Snoke’s hold on Ben and, in a moment of instinct, ignited his lightsaber over his sleeping nephew. Ben woke to see his uncle standing over him with a weapon. The moment shattered their relationship. Ben destroyed the Jedi temple, killed several of Luke’s students, and left with a group of followers who became the Knights of Ren. He adopted the name Kylo Ren and became an enforcer for the First Order.
The Force Awakens: The Killing of Han Solo
Kylo Ren’s first major act in the trilogy was hunting for the map to Luke Skywalker. His path crossed with Rey, a scavenger from Jakku with raw Force abilities. Snoke warned Kylo that he would face a test when he confronted his father.
That test arrived on Starkiller Base. Han Solo walked onto a bridge and called out to his son by his birth name. Ben removed his mask. For a moment, it looked like he might turn back. Then he ignited his lightsaber through Han’s chest and let his father fall into the abyss.
The act did not make Kylo stronger. It made him weaker. Rey defeated him in a lightsaber duel on Starkiller Base, leaving a scar across his face and a deeper wound in his sense of self.
The Last Jedi: Killing Snoke and Choosing Power
Kylo’s connection with Rey deepened through a Force bond that Snoke had secretly created. Rey believed she could turn Kylo away from the dark side. She was partly right and partly wrong.
Kylo killed Snoke, cutting the Supreme Leader in half and taking control of the First Order. He saved Rey in the process, but he did not join her. He asked her to rule the galaxy at his side. She refused. The bond between them remained, but Kylo chose power over connection.
The Rise of Skywalker: Ben Solo Returns
The final film brought the redemption that had been building across the trilogy. Leia, dying, reached out to her son through the Force. Han appeared to Ben in a memory or vision, echoing the moment on the bridge but offering forgiveness instead of a lightsaber.
Ben hurled his lightsaber into the sea and became Ben Solo again. He traveled to Exegol and fought alongside Rey against a resurrected Emperor Palpatine. When Rey destroyed Palpatine but was left dying from the effort, Ben gave his own life force to heal her. He sacrificed himself the way Anakin Skywalker once had, and his body vanished into the Force.
He died as Ben Solo, not as Kylo Ren.
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What Adam Driver Is Doing Next
Driver’s schedule is full outside the Star Wars galaxy. He stars in Paper Tiger alongside Scarlett Johansson and Miles Teller, set for theaters on November 13. He is expected to begin working on Michael Mann’s Heat 2 in December, and he was announced as playing Mister Sinister in the forthcoming X-Men reboot.
The Star Wars franchise itself is moving in other directions. Jon Watts, who directed Spider-Man: No Way Home, is set to helm the next Star Wars film. Lucasfilm is also under new leadership, with Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan taking over after Kathleen Kennedy’s exit.
Also Read: Marvel’s X-Men Reboot Casts Inde Navarrette as Rogue, Christopher Abbott as Professor X, Adam Driver as Mr. Sinister, and Maya Boyd as Storm
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