--- title: How the Star Wars-Inspired Ben Solo Shrug Challenge Took Off description: Here's everything you need to know about the viral Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker-inspired Ben Solo challenge and hear from the creator. canonical: https://time.com/5760565/ben-solo-shrug-challenge/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2020-01-07T21:49:06.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:44:33.183Z og:title: 'This Could Be Funny.' Here's How Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Gave Rise to the Ben Solo Challenge og:description: "This could be funny" og:url: https://time.com/5760565/ben-solo-shrug-challenge/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8451b7d87a38be50/698a04a9457a5260d8d62f8b/star-wars-rise-of-skywalker-final-trailer-10.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1906 og:image:height: 1072 og:image:alt: star-wars-rise-of-skywalker-final-trailer-10 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'This Could Be Funny.' Here's How Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Gave Rise to the Ben Solo Challenge twitter:description: "This could be funny" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8451b7d87a38be50/698a04a9457a5260d8d62f8b/star-wars-rise-of-skywalker-final-trailer-10.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'Baguettes, Umbrellas, and Lightsabers.' Here's the Whole Story Behind the Ben Solo Challenge Inspired by _Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker_ > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement.  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jan 7, 2020 9:49 PM UTC   by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jan 7, 2020 9:49 PM UTC **Warning:** This post contains spoilers for [_Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker_](https://time.com/5751746/star-wars-the-rise-of-skywalker-review/). In the midst of the [third act of _The Rise of Skywalker_](https://time.com/5752494/star-wars-the-rise-of-skywalker-ending/), there comes a moment when it seems like the luck of our two heroes, [Rey](https://time.com/5752170/who-are-reys-parents/) (Daisy Ridley) and Ben Solo ([Adam Driver](https://time.com/5746384/marriage-story-memes/)), may finally run out. But, of course, this is _Star Wars_, so with the fate of the galaxy hanging in the balance, the pair finds a way to utilize the Force connection they share throughout the sequel trilogy to turn the tables on the Dark Side. And thus, the now-viral [Ben Solo challenge](https://time.com/5760530/ben-solo-challenge/) was born. Inspired by the scene in which Rey sneakily teleports one of her two lightsabers to an unarmed Ben on the secret Sith planet of Exegol, the Ben Solo challenge calls for participants to reenact the moment when Ben draws the lightsaber from behind his back and gives a cheeky shrug before going ham on the Knights of Ren. Considering his father, Han Solo ([Harrison Ford](https://time.com/5582566/harrison-ford-peter-mayhew/)), once shrugged off his enemies in a similar manner, the move seems to symbolize that Ben has fully returned to the Light Side following his time as Kylo Ren. Naturally, it immediately caught the attention of fans. “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,” Twitter user [Mike loves the shrug](https://twitter.com/testtube27), the originator of the challenge, tells TIME. > [](https://twitter.com/KyloIsSad/status/1214356350551019521) Here’s everything you need to know about the fan-fueled [Ben Solo challenge](https://time.com/5760530/ben-solo-challenge/). ## How was the Ben Solo challenge created? > [](https://twitter.com/testtube27/status/1214127884488577024) The Ben Solo challenge first surfaced when Mike loves the shrug posted a video of himself performing the hidden lightsaber move — with heavy emphasis on Driver’s smug little shoulder lift — on TikTok. But it didn’t truly take off until he shared it on Twitter that same day. “I now present the [#BenSoloChallenge](https://twitter.com/hashtag/BenSoloChallenge?src=hashtag%5Fclick),” he wrote, sparking a movement to perfect the shrug heard round the galaxy. Since its Dec. 20 release, _The Rise of Skywalker_ has been met with a polarizing response, with some critics and fans panning the final chapter in the Skywalker saga for scraping much of the lore introduced in Rian Johnson’s _The Last Jedi_ while others have praised it for the very same reason. For his part, director J.J. Abrams told [_Vanity Fair_](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/12/jj-abrams-reacts-last-jedi-rise-of-skywalker)that he thinks both the detractors and supporters have a right to express their opinions. Mike tells TIME that he launched the challenge in hopes of counteracting some of the negative reactions to _The Rise of Skywalker_ that he was seeing online. “It’s not a secret that a lot of the fan response to the new _Star Wars_ has been really negative,” he says. “So I wanted to take a moment that seems to be universally loved, that everyone seems to really enjoy, take that moment and just let everyone have a go.” Ty Black (Twitter user [“wit and folly TY”](https://twitter.com/black%5Ftym)), who created her own version of the scene with a glass of wine, adds that she views the moment as a bright light for fans who were upset by Ben’s death in the movie. “Ben Solo dying, it was very tragic for a lot of us and it feels kind of like we lost a loved one,” she tells TIME. “So a lot of us have been grieving and this was the part in the film that felt like it was very Adam Driver, it was the Ben Solo we’ve been waiting for since _The Force Awakens_ and it was an homage to his dad, Han Solo.” ## How did the Ben Solo challenge go viral? > [](https://twitter.com/black%5Ftym/status/1214326626923757568) After Mike posted his original video on Twitter on Monday, it quickly began to garner attention. As of Tuesday afternoon, it had been liked over 13,000 times and retweeted nearly 2,000\. It has also inspired numerous people to rise to the challenge of creating their own videos — even if they don’t own their own lightsabers. “I expect to see people pulling baguettes and umbrellas from behind their backs,” Mike tweeted in response to his original video. “Don’t let me down.” Luckily, his fellow _Star Wars_ fans have held their own. From brooms to swords, substitute lightsabers are popping up all over the Ben Solo challenge landscape and proving that anyone can be the hero of their own Skywalker saga. Black tells TIME that she decided to use a glass of wine in her video after seeing one of her friends do it with a bottle of Mountain Dew, but ended up pouring some wine down her back in the process. “I had just come home from a really rough day at work and I poured myself a glass of wine and kind of looked at and was like, ‘This could be funny,'” she says. “So that’s what I did.” Mike says that his personal favorite recreation so far has been one made by his friend Jake (Twitter user [Jundland Jake](https://twitter.com/JakeFromYavin)), which has already been watched more times than his own. “He actually looks quite a lot like Adam Driver so his has been really popular,” he tells TIME. “It’s actually got more views than mine, which I’m not bitter about.” > [](https://twitter.com/JakeFromYavin/status/1214239832744112133) See some more of the best Ben Solo challenge videos below. > [](https://twitter.com/RubyVBoyden/status/1214599267496673280) > [](https://twitter.com/stevenpistor/status/1214361058036592643) > [](https://twitter.com/ObiwanxKannoli/status/1214260713260273665) > [](https://twitter.com/LindaNoul/status/1214291743576858624) > [](https://twitter.com/Imperial77Acade/status/1214365253674225664) > [](https://twitter.com/PrinceAugustVII/status/1214293350016176128) > [](https://twitter.com/LegendofLorie/status/1214299483548397568) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5760565/ben-solo-shrug-challenge/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5760565/ben-solo-shrug-challenge/"},"headline":"'Baguettes, Umbrellas, and Lightsabers.' 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