Lucasfilm is not finished with Kylo Ren.
That may not be an official announcement, but recent canon material makes the studio’s position harder to dismiss. Even as projects tied to Ben Solo stall or disappear, the character continues to resurface in sanctioned Star Wars storytelling.
The sequel trilogy ended Kylo Ren’s arc on screen, yet his place in the franchise has remained unresolved. Internal hesitation, fan pressure, and shifting creative priorities have kept the character in circulation since The Rise of Skywalker.
Those tensions came into focus again following reports that Lucasfilm quietly shelved The Hunt for Ben Solo. The decision suggested a pullback, particularly amid uncertainty over how the character survived the events of Episode IX.
Shortly afterward, a new canon complicated that narrative.
The final issue of Marvel Comics’ Legacy of Vader closed with a clear signal that Kylo Ren remains active within official Star Wars storytelling. The message was not subtle.
Set between Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019), Legacy of Vader #12 ends inside Darth Vader’s castle on Mustafar. Kylo Ren confronts a Force vision of the life Ben Solo might have lived.
Written by Charles Soule with art by Luke Ross, the issue frames the encounter as destabilizing rather than redemptive. Kylo is then violently expelled from Vader’s hidden vault.
The final page delivers a blunt line: “The Reign Ends. The Fall Begins. Kylo Ren… Will Return.”
For a franchise known for avoiding definitive language, the phrasing stands out. It also arrived weeks after news of a canceled Ben Solo project, making the contrast difficult to ignore.
Lucasfilm’s Mixed Signals
In late 2025, Adam Driver revealed that Disney had canceled The Hunt for Ben Solo. Reports indicated the project stalled due to internal uncertainty over how the character survived Episode IX.
Fan response was immediate. Supporters organized online campaigns and flew a banner over The Walt Disney Studios in Burbank urging Disney to reverse the decision. The reaction underscored the character’s continued appeal.
At the same time, Lucasfilm has moved forward with a new Star Wars film centered on Rey, set roughly 15 years after The Rise of Skywalker. The project has reopened questions the studio has yet to answer publicly.
Some fans believe Ben Solo could be incorporated through flashbacks or Force visions. Others expect Lucasfilm to keep the focus on Rey alone. No official confirmation has been made.
Daisy Ridley has addressed the speculation cautiously. Asked about Rey and Ben Solo’s future on The Drew Barrymore Show, she responded with a brief “Mm-hmm.”
She later told The Hollywood Reporter that she had “heard things” regarding Ben Solo’s future, without offering details. The response did little to settle the debate.
The Hollywood Reporter has also noted that “a sequel-sequel trilogy feels inevitable,” citing fan interest and commercial momentum. Within that framework, Kylo Ren remains difficult to exclude.
Why Kylo Ren Keeps Returning
Kylo Ren remains one of the sequel trilogy’s most polarizing characters. Critics point to his arc — including patricide, mass violence, and a rushed redemption — as narratively flawed.
Supporters argue that the character brought psychological conflict and generational trauma into the franchise in a more direct way than previous villains. The debate has not faded with time.
Interest in Kylo Ren has also expanded beyond the films. Reylo-adjacent novels such as The Love Hypothesis and The Hurricane Wars have crossed into mainstream publishing, reinforcing the pairing’s cultural footprint.
That momentum exists independently of Lucasfilm’s stated plans. It has also made a clean break from the sequel era increasingly difficult.
Would you like to see Adam Driver reprise the role of Kylo Ren?
