The Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter: October 24, 2025
Oh "The Hunt for Ben Solo," where art thou?
Hello there
Friday evening is still getting back to a Friday release of the Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter, so welcome back. It’s a pretty packed Death Star HR this week. A lost Kylo Ren movie has set Star Wars internet on fire. Rebel Intelligence has turned up some convincing evidence that we’re going to get the 1977 version of Star Wars in the theaters come 2027. And merging the our galaxy with the galaxy far, far way, Rebelscum Con announced dates and some top-flight guests plus metal band Galactic Empire has a new album and tour. Plus all the usual assorted nonsense we do here every week.
As always, thanks for reading Death Star HR. If you’re reading this and you’re not a subscriber, I’d love it if you entered your email below and smashed that subscribe button. There’s also an official Death Star HR Instagram and an official Death Star HR YouTube page as well and I’d love it if you subscribed there as well.
This Is Where The Fun Begins
I was looking through my photos for something else, but came across this one.
Texans know what I mean.
The Hunt for The Hunt for Ben Solo
One thing I try to do a couple times a year is go through all the known Star Wars movies and TV shows and do an update on where they are in development, if I think they’ll ever happen, and make some kind of snarky remark that the Taika Waititi movie wraps up filming just as our sun shrinks into a white dwarf star. And while the status of the projects changes, they’re more or less known. Outside of maybe Baby Yoda, Disney really doesn’t do surprises. And then this week, there was a big surprise all across Star Wars fandom. The Hunt for Ben Solo.
Whaaaaa???
Turns out that Adam Driver decided he wasn’t done with Kylo Ren. Or maybe he wasn’t done with Ben Solo. We’ll never know. But Driver had an idea for to carry on Ben Solo’s story after The Rise of Skywalker.
Driver says he took a concept to Soderbergh for a film that would take place after 2019’s “The Rise of Skywalker.” That movie culminated in Ren’s redemption and apparent death. Driver had undertaken the trilogy with an arc in mind for Ren that inverted the journey of Darth Vader. As the trilogy evolved, it didn’t play out that way. Driver felt there was unfinished business for Kylo Ren, or as he was known before turning to the Dark Side, Ben Solo.
Soderbergh and Rebecca Blunt outlined a story that the group then pitched to Kennedy, Lucasfilm vice president Cary Beck and Lucasfilm chief creative officer Dave Filoni. They were interested, so the filmmakers then pulled in Scott Z. Burns to write a script. Driver calls the result “one of the coolest (expletive) scripts I had ever been a part of.”
OK, you have my attention. A post-Sequel Trilogy movie. Yes, I know the Rey New Jedi Order movie is out there along with Simon Kinberg’s Trilogy. Isn’t Star Wars all about redemption? If there’s any character from the Sequel Trilogy set up for a redemption story, it’s Ben Solo. Maybe give him just a little more depth than Emo Kylo Ren. So why didn’t this happen?
“We presented the script to Lucasfilm. They loved the idea. They totally understood our angle and why we were doing it,” Driver says. “We took it to Bob Iger and Alan Bergman and they said no. They didn’t see how Ben Solo was alive. And that was that.”
Let that sink in…
I had to read that paragraph three times just to make sure I read it right. Bob Iger and Alan Bergman, the CEO and Co-Chairman of Disney Entertainment respectively, said a Star Wars movie wouldn’t work because a character was dead? Talk about the not knowing your own product. I have to ask, Bob and Alan: have you ever even seen a Star War? Being dead in the Star Wars galaxy is not the same as being dead in our galaxy. One is permanent. The other is more of temporary state of being. A mere suggestions.
Just off the top of my head the following characters should be dead and managed to have post-death careers. Darth Maul was cut in half by a lightsaber and both pieces of him fell down a reactor shaft. But hey, that wasn’t enough to kill him. Maul came back better than ever. Asajj Ventress died in both Legends and Canon. And then showed up in The Bad Batch. And of course, you know who came back from being thrown down another reactor shaft and then having Death Star II explode.
Yes, yes. I know that the Palpatine in The Rise of Skywalker was actually a clone and not the OG Palpy, but considering that little nugget of information wasn’t released until two years after the movie, it’s safe to say that most people walked out of Episode IX wondering just how old Sheev managed to survive.
Nerd news site Screen Rant even put together a list of characters who died and were somehow brought back. I take exception to a few of them, like Chewbacca. He didn’t really die in Rise of Skywalker. It was just a classic J.J. Abrams fake out. But even with some minor quibbles, the point is that dying isn’t enough to stop someone from living.
Since this news hit the internet, Star Wars fans have been, well, interested in the movie. And have of course handled it in a rational manner. Right?
Maybe not. As Collider reported, at least one fan hired a plane to fly over Disney headquarters with a “SAVE #THEHUNTFORBENSOLO” banner.
I don’t hate the idea.
The bold stunt drew lots of attention (and plenty of camera phones) from onlookers in Burbank this morning. “I really hope this banner shows the decision makers at Disney that the fans really do want this,” Lianna Al Allaf, the Star Wars fan who commissioned the banner, said, “I hope this banner shows just how much the character of Ben Solo means to so many of us, and that the fans really do want this movie.”
There’s a part of me that’s impressed by this and a part of me that kind of rolls my eyes. I know, pretty hypocritical considering that if the plane’s banner said “RELEASE THE DARTH JAR JAR CUT” I’d be posting about it every week for the next year.
But I think the fan outcry over this is partly we all fell a little helpless these days and might as well yell about Star Wars on the internet. And partly a feeling of Star Wars being a bit stuck, and a fear of the unknown that we don’t know what’s next. We know what’s next, in the sense of The Mandalorian and Grogu, Ahsoka season 2, and Starfighter. But the first two of those are known quantities and most Star Wars fans could make some educated guesses as to how the movie and show will go just based on what we’ve already seen from The Mandalorian and Ahsoka. We don’t really know what’s coming next. It feels like we’re gearing up for what you could call Phase 3 of Disney’s Star Wars plan. The first phase was the Sequel Trilogy. The second was the pivot to streaming starting with The Mandalorian. If we call Ahsoka season 2 the end of Phase 2, then we’re really only 18 months away from Starfighter and what could be the kickoff of Phase 3. Change is scary.
Could a redemption of Ben Solo movie bridge the gap? Get people back into the movies. Maybe be a good bridge movie between the Sequel Trilogy and whatever the Simon Kinberg Trilogy ends up being? Honestly The Hunt of Ben Solo and the Rey New Jedi Order could be a pretty good duloagy of movies. Ben coming to terms with being Kylo Ren and killing his father. Rey coming to terms with the weight of starting a Jedi Order that doesn’t fall the way it has in the past.
And as Driver himself put it:
For Driver, who starred in Soderbergh’s 2017 heist comedy “Logan Lucky,” the decision was mystifying. Who wouldn’t want to see a Soderbergh-directed “Star Wars” film?
“We wanted to be judicial about how to spend money and be economical with it, and do it for less than most but in the same spirit of what those movies are, which is handmade and character-driven,” Driver says. “‘Empire Strikes Back’ being, in my opinion, the standard of what those movies were. But he is, to me, one of my favorite directors of all time. He lives his code, lives his ethics, doesn’t compromise.”
It is tough to think about how what could have been a very interesting movie got killed not because of budgets, or Hollywood egos, or scheduling conflicts. This was, at least according to the information we have, a budget friendly movie that had Adam Driver and Steven Soderbergh along with the interest/approval from Kathleen Kennedy, Dave Filoni, and Cary Beck. Only to see it killed because the c-suite said “didn’t that guy die in one of our other movies?” This is going to be one of those “what could have been” type of things that Star Wars fans talk about. Like Underworld or Knights of the Old Republic 3. I just hope The Hunt for Ben Solo ends up happening but I’m not holding my breath.
Gonna Party Like It’s 1977
This was going to go in the HoloNet News Network section but I feel like it deserves its own entry and it’s not going to wait until next week. We all know 2027 is the 50th anniversary of Star Wars and Disney is announced they were planning on screening A New Hope to mark the occasion. I know I wrote about it, but because Substack’s search function is pure bantha poodoo, I don’t remember exactly when I wrote it and haven’t been able to located the article.
The big question people had was would we get to see the 1997 Special Edition versions of A New Hope (and maybe Empire and Jedi) or would Disney dive down to the depths of the Living Waters of Mandalor and retrieve the original 1977 cut? Disney, smartly I might add, has been playing coy has to what version we’ll see, finding it easier to say nothing. And while the the 1977 versions are rarely seen, it’s not like you never seen them. Over the summer our cousins across the pond got two screenings of Star Wars, as it was then titled, for the British Film Institute’s Film on Film Festival. I also wrote about that and was able to find it.
Why am I bringing this up now? Well, I saw this story today, titled “Holy Crap, It Looks Like Disney Is Finally Restoring And Releasing The Original Version Of Star Wars”
You can understand why I wanted to write about it instead of just the headline and a one line remark from me.
Over the last few months, rumors and leaks have been circulating online about Disney working on a remastered and fully restored version of Star Wars. Then, recently, video clips surfaced of this not-yet-officially-announced 4K restoration of the theatrical version of Star Wars. Those clips were promptly deleted, but leaked screenshots are still floating around and show new, highly detailed scans of A New Hope, and also The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi,implying the entire OG trilogy is being restored. And the best part? The leaked information claims that these restorations are being done properly, using original film negatives and with an effort to preserve grain and color grading. This doesn’t appear to be a quick 4K AI upscale like we’ve seen in recent years.
You can click the links above and see for yourself. From poking around Reddit, it seems that the clips were uploaded onto an untitled YouTube playlist that someone found. This isn’t terribly uncommon, uploading to YouTube essentially acts as a cheap way to backup the clips. It’s only trouble if someone who shouldn’t finds it. A 4K completely remastered and restored version of the OT would certainly be something.
For the BFI festival, the print that they screened was cleaned up. But it certainly wasn’t a full restoration and remaster. Let’s say all of the above is accurate, that almost certainly means we’re going to see the 1977 cut in 2027.
Mark Your Calendars and Prepare Your Costumes
No, this isn’t about Halloween. Don’t worry, there will be a Halloween post next week. It will probably be November 1st so I can do a recap of the festivities and a Star Wars costume count from my neighborhood. No, I’m talking about the announcement for next year’s Rebel Scum Con.
It takes place right after the World Cup comes through Dallas. We’ll see what kind of state DFW is in. This is the third year of Rebel Scum Con. I was aware of it the first year, and probably should have gone. I don’t know why I didn’t. Probably because I had never been to any kind of con before and really wasn’t sure if it would be my jam. This year, I decided to give it a try. The sacrifices I make for my readers. I’d just go one day, and drag along a friend who’s only known as the crazy old wizard from Tarrant County. In short, we had a blast. I wrote about it. If you haven’t, you give a read.
It was fun, going back this year. I’m not really an autograph hound, but they have announced three guests so far.
All three are great choices. It might be a little hard for me to pass up getting an autograph from the OG Darth Maul. I mean, I like Sam Witwer. I like his Maul in The Clone Wars and Rebels. He seemed like he is a pretty entertaining guy in the panel I saw him at. But Ray Park is my Darth Maul.
This just means I’ve got less than a year to get a Darth Jar Jar costume together…
The Heaviest Band in the Galaxy Drops a New One
Galactic Empire, the only Star Wars themed progressive metal band in the galaxy AND official friend of Death Star HR have dropped a new album. This one branches out from their previous three albums. The first three were exclusively their versions of Star Wars songs. The new album, CINEMETAL keeps with their sound but branches out into other movie themes.
Still heavy on the John Williams, the track listing is:
Superman
Avengers
Back To The Future
Batman
E.T.
Indiana Jones
Godzilla
Harry Potter
Jurassic Park
Lord of the Rings
Terminator
Pirates of the Caribbean
They’re also starting the second leg of the 2025 tour tonight in the fine city of Denver, Colorado before going up and down the west coast, cutting across the southern part of the US with a stop in Austin, Texas. Once they’ve eaten their weight in brisket, it’s on to Florida then up the east coast. If you’re in a city that they’re coming to, go check them out. It’s a fun show. And, while you’re waiting for the Galactic Empire Star Destroyer to come to your town, check out my interview with them.
Things My Wife Has Said About Star Wars
So I really was trying to get this out at a reasonable time on Friday. But the Force was working against me.
Me: So I was trying to get Death Star HR done, and I was just looking for news stories when I saw something big.
Her: Hmmm. What was it.
Me: OK so you know how they’re going to be showing A New Hope and maybe the OT in the theaters in 2027 for the 50th anniversary.
Her: Uh huh.
Me: Well, rumor is they’re going to be showing the 1977 cut instead of the Special Edition. [said with a fair amount of excitement in my voice].
Her: Hmmmm.
Me: OK so they don’t ever show the original cut anymore, only the Special Editions. [she’s not getting why this is a big deal]
Her: How come they don’t….wait….no. I don’t want to know. I have no further follow up questions.
Fine. She’s not invited to the midnight show in 2027. All the cool kids will be there though.
This Day in Star Wars History
October 24th was a pretty busy day in the Star Wars universe. This week we’ve got four births and a comic book.
Voice actor Jack Angel (that actually is his real name) was born in 1930. Angel had a very lengthy career and it included doing voices for Transformers (both movie and TV show), Toy Story 1, 2, and 3, G.I. Joe, Duck Tales, and Spider Man: The Animated Series. He only made one appearance in Star Wars though. Voicing Rom Mohc, the main Imperial in the Dark Forces video game.
Dr. Dinah L. Moché was born in 1936. Possibly the first appearance of a PhD in This Day in Star Wars History? Dr. Moché wrote the 1979 children’s book The Star Wars Question and Answer Book About Space which as far as I can tell, is a children’s book about space but using Star Wars examples.
Skipping ahead four decades, Amy Allen was born in 1976. Allen was working at production assistant at ILM when she was tapped to play Jedi Knight Aayla Secura in Attack of the Clones and again in Revenge of the Sith. She also played a Twi’lek in DVD release The Phantom Menace, but not the version released in the theater. Allen seems pretty active on the convention circuit. And her website is straight HTML 1.0 which I kinda love.
Comic book Empire’s End 1 was released in 1995. The Dark Horse comics from the early/mid 90’s were pretty big, especially the Dark Empire series. Empire’s End, also referred to as Dark Empire III, had a lot to do with Palpatine and cloning. See, it’s been a thing for a while.
Actress Bronte Carmichael was born in 2006. She played Mon Mothma’s trad-wife daughter, Leida Mothma, in both seasons of Andor.
From the Depths of Wookieepedia
How often do we think about insects in the Star Wars universe? Obviously if you have intelligent, sentient species like Humans, Ryn, and Twi’leks, along with pets like Loth-Cats and lurca hounds, seems only to make sense that there’s insects out there as well. And when you have bugs, you have bug bites. Thankfully, there’s a cure and it has its own Wookieepedia entry.
Bug-bite Cure was a potion prepared by the Tulgah witch Moragthat kept irritating bugs of the forest moon of Endor away from sentient creatures such as the Duloks. The Dulok Shaman Umwakwas forced to grovel to Morag and promise favors in return for the substance. Morag would reluctantly part with the bug-bite cure only after the Duloks would agree to do Morag favors in return.
It doesn’t say what the bug bite cure is. And given that it’s a potion so magic is implied, it’s probably not the Star Wars version of DEET. But it was deemed worthy of its own entry.
HoloNet News Network
David Fincher’s Rise of Skywalker Sequel Was Turned Down by Lucasfilm
Was this common knowledge? I’ve never heard this. I am a big fan of David Fincher and would love to see his take on Star Wars.
A very normal headline for our very stupid timeline.
‘Star Wars’ toy exhibit now open in Kansas City on UMKC campus
Not many people know this but KC is low key a pretty great city.
Look Inside Lucasfilm’s Themed Star Wars Employee Lounge
Reminder to Kathy and Dave that I would be an excellent Lucasfilm employee and have great ideas for the Darth Jar Jar trilogy.
John Boyega Recalls How Oscar Isaac Encouraged FinnPoe Shippers
Shippers, it was never going to happen. John and Oscar were just yanking your chain. Even if they did like the idea.
That’s it for this week. If you like what I’m doing, please subscribe. I’ll catch you next week, and may the Force be with you.
I was going to write about the Ben Solo movie but Matthew Freeman articulated my thoughts better than I ever could, so I am just going to quote him:
I think it’s kind of hilarious that many of the very same people who openly mocked “Somehow Palpatine Returned” are decrying the loss of a movie about Very Dead, Totally Disappeared into the Force Ben Solo. People, it’s thematically resonant that Palpatine returned: the Sith cheat death. Ben Solo’s death was a noble sacrifice! It was his redemption! (https://matthewfreeman.substack.com/p/rando-calrissian-39)
I don't want to is offend anyone who wanted to see this, but I can't muster any enthusiasm for it. I do like the idea of a Steven Soderbergh Star Wars film though (as well as the David Fincher one alluded to at the bottom of this newsletter).
I have a question: with all this talk of a Simon Kinberg trilogy, does this mean that the Rian Johnson trilogy that he was supposed to start after his third Knives Out film is getting buried along with the Taika Waititi and Patty Jenkins movies (which I was also really looking forward to)?
Ben Nolo