Some of the biggest buzz the Star Wars franchise has gotten in the last year has been discussion about a project that didn’t come to fruition. It’s been confirmed that director Steven Soderbergh was set to helm a Star Wars movie written by Scott Z. Burns (Rogue One) that would have been set after The Rise of Skywalker and continue the story of Adam Driver’s Ben Solo. That revelation started an avalanche of fan reaction and commentary about the state of the franchise, especially the film side of things.
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It was pointed out that the real loss of not getting Soderbergh’s Ben Solo movie was that it would’ve been the rare chance for Star Wars to finally address one of the biggest pieces of intrigue in the Star Wars Saga: an in-depth look at the process of finding redemption from the dark side, and making your way back to the light.
It’s too good an idea to live and let die – especially when there is a clear opportunity to take not one, but two of the biggest fan-favorite concepts for a Star Wars movie, and make them one spectacular film.
Star Wars’ Kylo Ren & Darth Vader Movies Can Be One Movie
Star Wars fans want a Kylo Ren/Ben Solo movie; they also have never given up on a Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker film. Seems like a real shame not to give them both. During the Star Wars sequel trilogy, Kylo Ren was shown to be in constant conversation with the legacy of his grandfather, Darth Vader, naively looking to Anakin’s dark side power as Vader for his inspiration. Obviously, by the time “Ben” is redeemed and helping Rey kill Emperor Palpatine(‘s clone), he’s no longer looking at Vader admiringly.
Any kind of “Hunt for Ben Solo” movie that is aiming to continue the character’s story has to first reconcile how he survives his seeming death on the Sith world of Exegol. Ben gave the last of his “life essence” to Rey (Daisy Ridley) to resurrect her from death, via their Force dyad connection. Ben is last seen falling into the abyss, with his death “felt” through the Force, at the exact moment his mom, Leia Organa, becomes one with the Force. It was a very dark end to the Skywalker bloodline, made even more awkward when Rey “adopts” the name Skywalker for herself. The Ben Solo movie can fix all that quickly by revealing that Leia’s moment of transition somehow empowers her son with the barest rekindling of his life essence. A gravely injured Ben Solo, teetering on the brink of life and death, is the perfect gateway for Anakin Skywalker’s essence to make contact with his grandson through the Force, so that the two can have a much-needed family chat.
We’re plotting our own movie at this point, but the overall point is: the movie about bringing Ben Solo back to life and setting him on a redemptive arc in the future franchise is a story that runs perfectly through the Darth Vader movie fans wanted. By trying to talk with and guide his grandson back to life and light, Anakin would have to focus on some of the darkest stories of when he was “Vader,” when he nonetheless felt the twinge of light still pulling him. It’s a storytelling technique that has worked extremely well in the pages of Star Wars comics, and with the thematic payoff of those anthology-style Vader vignettes influencing Ben Solo, it’s a technique that complements the film perfectly. It’s no mistake that Ahsoka‘s most acclaimed episode is the one where Hayden Christensen’s Anakin guest stars to take Ahsoka Tano on a Force vision walk back through her life: Star Wars mysticism, done the right way, resonates with the audience.
Kylo Ren vs. Vader: The Fight Fans Want to See
Of course, there would be no point to loosening the rules and restrictions of reality if we didn’t take the biggest swing at a fan-service duel: Kylo Ren vs. Darth Vader. Any Force vision that forces both Ben and Anakin to reconcile with their respective darker halves must (must) at some point include a showdown between those two dark side personas. Otherwise, what would be the point of this whole thing?
Vader vs. Kylo Ren would only be one duel, of course: Ben Solo and Anakin Skywalker have to cross swords, as well. After all, Christensen and Driver have both earned their time to shine, unmasked. Maybe the franchise ups the entire action movie bar, with a duel that sees both men alternating between light and dark, in a furious attempt to find/disrupt balance.
This is the kind of project that Star Wars sorely needs: big enough moments of spectacle for theaters, and a premise that leans on two of the “safest best” in terms of franchise characters that can sell a new film. And yet, it’s still a “small” and focused character piece that would lean quite heavily on a small cast of talented actors, and could be handled by a prestige director who doesn’t need to have Marvel-level experience (Soderbergh, or otherwise). It’s an easy idea to invest in – especially since it would logically end in one opportune place: setting up Adam Driver’s Ben Solo to dovetail his movie alongside Rey’s New Jedi Order movie, before the fated pair eventually reunite.
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