Shrug? 'Ben Solo Challenge' Goes Viral As Star Wars Fans Honor Han Solo And Son's Matching Moves

Han Solo shrugs in Star Wars Return of the Jedi
(Image credit: Lucasfilm)

SPOILERS ahead from Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker brought Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and his son Ben Solo (Adam Driver) back together again in more ways than one. Fans loved the scene where Kylo Ren pulled a lightsaber from behind his back and completed the mic drop move with a classic Han Solo shrug. That turned into the #BenSoloChallenge, and my favorite thing about it is that it's Ben Solo and not Kylo Ren.

Twitter user "Mike loves the shrug" created the #BenSoloChallenge on January 6 and it quickly went viral. He told TIME it was inspired by father and son Han and Ben's matching Star Wars shrugs.

The shrug is just such a Han Solo-Harrison Ford moment and seeing someone as talented as Adam Driver do that…it’s such a spot-on impression of that moment and that character.

Here's the introduction of the #BenSoloChallenge, which has been mimicked across the web:

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Star Wars fans tried and mostly failed to pull off the same nonchalant cool as the Solo boys. Here's my favorite challenge acceptance so far, with a tiny Ben Solo reaching for a lightsaber behind her back before giving the cutest shrug:

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Some fans tried to stick closer to Adam Driver's version of the move -- more of a "ta-da motion," as this fan phrased it -- than Han Solo's cocky shrug from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi:

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There are so many great versions on the web -- and since a lot of people don't have their own lightsabers, I saw a lot of creativity. One girl used a baguette as lightsaber, one guy used Thor's hammer Mjölnir, there were people using their Star Wars posters, etc. I appreciate The Last Jedi-style effort this shirtless guy put into his entire look, with a flyswatter as his lightsaber:

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It all reminds me of Game of Thrones' #AryaChallenge after she pulled that move against the Night King. But I suppose the overall takeaway is that there's only one Ben Solo, and actor Adam Driver nailed that Rise of Skywalker shrug:

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And of course there's only one true Han Solo shrug as well:

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Han Solo and son Ben have a rocky history, to say the least, and Ben killed his own father in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. But Han Solo did return as a vision (not a Force Ghost) in The Rise of Skywalker and director J.J. Abrams explained how he got Harrison Ford to return for one last scene in the Skywalker Saga.

Ben Solo/Kylo Ren's fate has been a major focus of debate after Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Reylo fans weren't happy to see that end to Rey and Kylo's story, and didn't appreciate a "cruel" promo that seemed to put salt in the wound. Apparently the movie almost cut Rey and Kylo's kiss scene, which probably would've made John Boyega happy.

The Star Wars story seems to be over for Ben Solo and Adam Driver, but Rise of Skywalker is still making tons of money in theaters and fans are clearly still invested in the characters. More Star Wars movies are ahead, as well as TV shows like The Mandalorian Season 2, which is coming to Disney+ this fall.

Gina Carbone

Gina grew up in Massachusetts and California in her own version of The Parent Trap. She went to three different middle schools, four high schools, and three universities -- including half a year in Perth, Western Australia. She currently lives in a small town in Maine, the kind Stephen King regularly sets terrible things in, so this may be the last you hear from her.