Kylo Ren had a way of getting both followers and foes riled up. But currently, it’s his better half who has Star Wars fans in a tizzy. Some of them are disappointed/confused/irate after Adam Driver revealed Bob Iger and Disney stopped him from returning to the franchise with a solo movie directed by Steven Soderbergh. And those fans don’t want to take no as an answer. The fan campaign to get The Hunt for Ben Solo to the big screen has already made its way to Times Square.
Star Wars fan B.D. Neagle purchased space on a digital billboard in New York City’s Times Square to push Disney to approve The Hunt for Ben Solo. The billboard (which we first heard about at Collider) went up at at 1500 Broadway above Carlo’s Bake Shop between 43rd and 44th. Every 28 minutes it reads: “For Adam. No one’s ever really gone. Hope lives. Ben is alive! #THBS.”
This digital call to action isn’t the first shot fired in this quickly forming campaign. Days earlier, fans flew a plane with a banner over Disney Studios in Burbank, California. It’s message was very clear: “Save #TheHuntForBenSolo.”
Does this campaign have any shot at being successful? After #ReleaseTheSnyderCut worked, we can’t say no. We also just saw Disney customers can influence the company’s decisions. And fans like Neagle hope to do exactly that right now, just without a protest. She told Collider the billboard is designed to show Disney what fans “really want.” She also pointedly addressed Iger’s apparent reason for rejecting the film.
Reportedly it was because Disney executives couldn’t figure out how Ben Solo could come back after dying at the end of The Rise of Skywalker. “If they could bring back Palpatine with one line, there are plenty of ways Ben could return that already fit into Star Wars lore,” said Neagle.
…She’s not wrong. In fact, that’s a great point. Maybe she can bring that up in the next billboard.