Fans Hire a Plane to Push "Ben Solo" Spinoff After Disney Says No
Look up over Burbank late Thursday morning and you might've seen it: a small plane hauling a big ask. "Shareholders Want The Hunt for Ben Solo." Not subtle. Very clear.
It circled near Disney's headquarters just hours after the company's earnings call. Another round in a fan campaign that doesn't seem ready to fade into the background.
What happened overhead
This wasn't a one-off stunt. A similar banner flew in late October. And this week, "missing person" flyers popped up on lampposts in L.A.'s mid-Wilshire area with Adam Driver (movies and tv series)'s Ben Solo photo and a pointed detail: last seen five years and 10 months ago - a nod to The Rise of Skywalker's December 2019 release.
It's scrappy, a little absurd, and very Star Wars fandom. People want to be heard, so they're making noise.
The pitch that hit a wall
Here's the backstory. Adam Driver said in an October interview that he and Steven Soderbergh (movies and tv series) developed a Ben Solo movie idea. Scott Z. Burns wrote a script. Kathleen Kennedy (movies and tv series) gave it a thumbs up internally.
The roadblock came at the top. Driver said they brought it to Bob Iger and Alan Bergman (movies and tv series) - and got a no. The issue, as he put it, was simple: Disney didn't see a path for Ben to be alive. Soderbergh later confirmed the project existed and that it was shut down.
Why this is messy
Fans loved Ben Solo's turn back to the light. But he died sealing that arc. Bringing him back risks undercutting that sacrifice and, honestly, the stakes in a franchise that's already stretched death's meaning with returns for Palpatine, Maul, and Boba Fett.
There's also the baggage of The Rise of Skywalker itself. The movie's reputation cooled the big-screen pipeline for years. Next summer's The Mandalorian & Grogu is set to be the first theatrical Star Wars release since 2019, a cautious reset for the brand.
- Project: The Hunt for Ben Solo (fan title)
- Team behind the pitch: Adam Driver, Steven Soderbergh, Scott Z. Burns
- Internal sign-off: Kathleen Kennedy
- Final decision: Rejected by Bob Iger and Alan Bergman
- Fan actions: Two banner flights, L.A. street posters
If you're tracking the franchise beat, that's a hard calculus: story integrity versus a passionate fan base that's still showing up with wallets and wild ideas.
What this could mean
Maybe this stays a cult wish. Or maybe it nudges Lucasfilm to explore Ben in safer lanes - prequel years, Knights of Ren, even a limited series. There are ways to meet the hunger without undoing the ending people argued about for months.
And if you're Disney, you're watching the optics. A plane over HQ is theater, sure, but it's also data: there's real appetite for Driver's character, even post-finale. The question is whether that appetite fits the plan for the next era - one movie at a time.
Bottom line: Fans are making their pitch in the sky. The studio's counter is on the ground: protect the story, steady the slate, and try not to relitigate 2019.
Lucasfilm details The Mandalorian & Grogu feature - the next big-screen step after the drought.
