Editor’s note: ‘Disney kills the last Skywalker and ignites a rebellion’ was written alongside a companion A&E’s Reporter Notebook piece written by Contributing Writer Winter Mortiz. Read her piece first for context. 

Since Disney acquired George Lucas’ franchise in 2012, its “Star Wars” track record has been mediocre at best. The sequel trilogy, which otherwise boasts the highest-grossing film in the United States, is infamous for its clunky, rushed storylines and underdeveloped characters. Since the pandemic, Disney’s focus on streaming has only added to fans’ frustration, with divisive releases and canceled projects piling up in the company’s trash can. 

At this point, the franchise requires a revival rooted in nostalgia and developed by creatives who understand and care about the “Star Wars” legacy. Unfortunately, Disney has resisted this pull to the light in its latest creative misstep: rejecting Adam Driver’s “The Hunt for Ben Solo,” a film that would have revived and shed light on the titular prodigal son. 

But why are “Star Wars” fans collectively adamant about resurrecting this canonically deceased character? 

As the smuggler Lando Calrissian put it, “With the blood of a scoundrel and a princess in his veins, his defiance will shake the stars.” Ben Solo is a complex, seemingly wicked figure who embodies a legendary lineage — the reckless courage of his father, Han Solo; the conviction of his mother, Leia Organa; and most of all, the intelligence and inner turmoil of his grandfather, Anakin Skywalker. 

That being said, the story of Ben Solo is as much about hope as it is about loss. In failing to complete the Skywalker cycle and bring peace to a tragic family story, his redemption as an antihero remains short lived. The Sith preyed on Ben’s feelings of abandonment during his childhood to lure him to the dark side. What they could not eradicate, though, was a generational spark of hope — something resonant in Ben’s demeanor that naturally drew him toward Rey, his family, and back to the light. The Skywalker prophecy of bringing balance to the galaxy endures through him; he is now the last hope for “Star Wars.”

The “Star Wars” universe is predicated on the Skywalker mythology — a cyclical story of hope, fall, and redemption within one family line. Anakin’s fall to the dark side and his son Luke’s later uprising against the Empire set the stage for Ben Solo’s own struggle as Kylo Ren. Yet, unlike his grandfather, whose redemption came only in death, Ben had a chance to cast out the darkness while alive. Through the efforts of his family and Rey, the last Jedi, the Skywalker myth would have taken a turn into its rightful orbit. Sinful yet repentant, Ben’s homecoming would have continued a beloved legacy — one that George Lucas originally intended to end happily. Having him survive and not be sacrificed like his grandfather would have offered children and fans a vital lesson: There is always hope to change and still live on. In killing him off, Disney denied that message in favor of an easy spectacle. 

At the saga’s beginning, Anakin fell for Padme amid starry Naboo nights before the darkness consumed him. At the saga’s end, Ben was seduced by darkness before falling for Rey, only for him to vanish into the starry night. Disney left his story unfinished, and now, hope is all that can lead us through the darkness ahead. Just as Kylo unknowingly implied at the beginning of his onscreen story, “Show me, Grandfather, and I will finish what you started.”