Exclusive: Adam Driver In Talks To Return In Damon Lindelof Star Wars Movie
Kylo Ren isn’t done just yet. Our trusted and proven sources are telling us that Adam Driver is in negotiations with Lucasfilm to reprise his role as Darth Vader’s grandson in Damon Lindelof‘s upcoming Star Wars movie. Specifically, Driver would play a Force ghost version of Kylo Ren; presumably to advise the hero(es) of the new story.
Though we can’t say for sure that it’s who Adam Driver’s Star Wars ghost will be speaking with, this does track with earlier reports we received that Daisy Ridley was in talks to reprise her role as Rey Skywalker for the film. The divisive conclusion to the sequel trilogy, 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker, finds Kylo–like his grandfather–turning against Emperor Palpatine. Like Anakin, Kylo sacrifices himself; in the latter case to save the mortally wounded Rey.
Of course, assuming the talks with Adam Driver are successful, he’ll hardly be the first Star Wars actor to reprise his role in Force ghost form. Most recently, Liam Neeson made his long hoped for live-action return as the Force ghost of Qui-Gon Jinn in the closing moments of Disney+’s Obi-Wan Kenobi. Alec Guiness’ Obi-Wan, Frank Oz’s Yoda, both the Sebastian Shaw and Hayden Christensen versions of Anakin Skywalker, and Mark Hamill‘s Luke Skywalker have similarly returned to either give some advice to the surviving heroes or–in the case of the end of Return of the Jedi–to just stand around and smile.
Unlike his sequel trilogy co-star John Boyega, Adam Driver publicly made it clear last November that he was more than willing to make a Star Wars return under the right circumstances. When Unilad asked him if he’d be averse to playing Kylo Ren considering the fandom furor over 2017’s The Last Jedi in particular, Driver answered, “No, I’m totally not against it. For me, it’s a filmmaker’s medium, so my only thing is working with great filmmakers.”
By that criteria, Adam Driver certainly has found a good fit with the upcoming Star Wars film. When news of Lindelof’s secret Star Wars film was first announced, it was also reported the acclaimed Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy was attached to direct. Along with being a vocal activist and journalist, Obaid-Chinoy is also the Oscar-winning director of two short-form documentaries: 2012’s Saving Face and 2015’s A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness.
The still untitled franchise project will be the first big budget blockbuster Obaid-Chinoy has directed, though she isn’t a complete stranger to Disney-backed action stories. She directed two episodes of Disney+’s hit original series Ms. Marvel. She sounds like exactly the kind of emerging filmmaker Adam Driver would say yes to for a Star Wars project, or for anything else.
The news that Adam Driver is negotiating to play a force ghost in the upcoming Star Wars flick also confirms that the new film will, for the first time since The Rise of Skywalker, move the narrative forward chronologically. Every other project that has since been released or has been confirmed to be in production is some sort of prequel. Even Disney+’s The Mandalorian and its spinoff The Book of Boba Fett are set before the events of the sequel trilogy.
