Copyright Screen Rant
The Star Wars franchise was rocked by recent news about The Hunt for Ben Solo, but even without that movie, Adam Driver can still return to a galaxy far, far away. With the likes of The Mandalorian and Grogu returning Star Wars to the big screen, the possibility for more stories with beloved characters is only increasing. Upcoming Star Wars movies are set to feature popular characters from the New Republic era of the timeline, as well as Jedi like Rey Skywalker. Recently, some huge news came out of Lucasfilm about Adam Driver's return in The Hunt for Ben Solo, a post-Rise of Skywalker story that further chronicled the redemption of Kylo Ren. However, despite this project being all set to go on Lucasfilm's behalf, it was rejected by Disney. This massively disappointed Star Wars fans, especially with Ben Solo being counted among the best Star Wars characters in history, certainly of the sequel trilogy. This disappointment remains fresh, but there may still be a way for Driver to come back to Star Wars after all. An Animated Show Set Before Episode VII Is The Perfect Way To Bring Ben Solo Back With it being clear that a movie centered on Ben Solo isn't happening anytime soon, an animated Star Wars show centering on the character before Star Wars: The Force Awakens would be perfect. Even beyond what it could mean for Ben as a character, there are several wider franchise reasons as to why this would be a good idea. For one, Star Wars' upcoming animated portfolio is looking somewhat slim. Beyond Maul: Shadow Lord, there are no confirmed animated projects in the works at Lucasfilm. Of course, this does not mean the studio is not working on any behind-the-scenes, but even still, the animated side of the franchise has seemingly been less of a focus in recent years. Also, when looking at the Star Wars timeline, the period just before The Force Awakens has been the least explored on-screen. This is even more true for major characters like Luke Skywalker and Ben Solo, whose history was only outlined in brief flashbacks in the sequel movies. Therefore, to both provide more animated stories in Star Wars and bring back Ben Solo, a show set before Episode VII is perfect. Luke Skywalker's Jedi Academy Is One Of Star Wars' Biggest Unfinished Stories As already alluded to, the story of Luke Skywalker's New Jedi Order is one of the biggest missed opportunities in the franchise. While some comic book series have explored Luke's time training a new generation of Jedi, there isn't a great deal of story there. Beyond that, the movies and TV shows have been unforthcoming aside from the few aforementioned flashbacks. The Book of Boba Fett outlined a few elements of Luke's academy, such as its early look, the planet on which it was based, and the fact that Grogu was a very brief student. However, there are a lot more stories and adventures to tell in this era, and a lot of unanswered questions that could be addressed. Ben Solo's journey is, obviously, a big story point that could be addressed; Snoke's corruption of Ben would be cool to see in animated format, as would the back-and-forth between Ben, Luke, and the other students. A show set in this period could also bring back classic animated characters like Ahsoka Tano. The Book of Boba Fett confirmed that Ahsoka knew of Luke and his temple, but left any answers viewers might want as to how they met and what they initially spoke about frustratingly unclear. Bringing back Ahsoka in animation, how she was introduced to Star Wars TV, would be great, all while answering how she is tied to Luke's Jedi Order. Not only would Ashley Eckstein then return as Ahsoka, but Star Wars could easily get Adam Driver and Mark Hamill back to voice Ben Solo and Luke Skywalker, respectively. This would allow Driver to return as he so clearly wants to, based on The Hunt for Ben Solo, and Hamill is always open to more Star Wars. As an animated Star Wars show, too, any issues with de-aging technology would be gone. Luke wouldn't need to appear as a strange, deepfaked version of himself as he did in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. All of these reasons prove why an animated Star Wars show focusing on Luke's Jedi Academy would be great, removing the sting of The Hunt for Ben Solo's cancellation chief among them. An Animated Ben Solo Series Would Not Solve Star Wars' Kylo Ren Problems That said, an animated series starring Ben Solo would not remove all of the problems Star Wars has had with the Kylo Ren character. The main issue with The Hunt for Ben Solo's cancellation and the lack of other stories surrounding the character is how great the character is. Many more Star Wars projects should have focused on Ben Solo, based on how he was the standout of the sequel trilogy. The character and Driver as an actor deserved as much focus as someone like Anakin Skywalker, but the sequel trilogy did not pan out that way. Star Wars' biggest Kylo Ren problem remains that the franchise simply has not used him enough.
