Adam Driver’s Ben Solo/Kylo Ren was one of the best things about modern Star Wars. In his debut in The Force Awakens, the character made a strong impression as a Force user full of pent up anger and a hatred for his legacy. But, over the following two movies, that potential was never realized.
After The Last Jedi left him in an interesting place as Supreme Commander of the First Order while deepening his connection to Rey, The Rise of Skywalker undid a lot of that development and then killed him off in the finale. It’s telling that it’s taken a series of comic books to explain exactly why he fell to the dark side and how Ben Solo chose his new moniker.
But could Ben ever return? His death in The Rise of Skywalker seems to suggest no (other than in force ghost form), but how about a film focusing on his younger years? That’d certainly be interesting to see, and Finn Wolfhard, star of Stranger Things, IT and the upcoming Ghostbusters: Afterlife discussed the idea in an online Q&A recently, saying the following:
“It is not just you, I would love to do that. But the series just ended. But, ya know, I’m a free agent, Marvel. And, Disney, I’m around. Marvel doesn’t handle any … well, it’s owned by Disney. Anyways, whatever, hire me.”
Now, Wolfhard isn’t off to a great start by confusing Marvel and Lucasfilm, but he’d be a good choice for a young Ben Solo. Any movie of this kind would presumably centre on Luke Skywalker’s failed Jedi Academy, which we catch only glimpses of in The Last Jedi. How exactly this place worked and who attended would make for a decent movie, albeit one we already know the end of.
Perhaps the biggest hurdle standing in their way would be the amount of CGI de-ageing they’d have to do of the older cast members. Mark Hamill would be playing a more middle-aged Luke, and you’d also expect to see Han and Leia appearing as his parents, too. Getting Harrison Ford to return again might be too much of an ask (he still needs to hurry up and do Indiana Jones 5) and after Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker‘s efforts, I think it’s best that Carrie Fisher be allowed to rest in peace.
But hey, weirder things have happened.
