After close to two decades of hope and expectation, Ewan McGregor will finally be slipping back into his Jedi ropes and wielding a lightsaber once again when Obi-Wan Kenobi lands on Disney Plus with a bumper two-episode premiere on May 27.
Based entirely on the blockbuster returns of McGregor’s franchise icon and Hayden Christensen’s Darth Vader, as well as the long-awaited live-action debut of fan favorite villain the Grand Inquisitor, we’re undoubtedly talking about the single most hotly-anticipated streaming exclusive set in a galaxy far, far away yet, and it’s not even close.
Of course, there’s a plot that needs to be set in motion alongside the Easter Eggs and fan service, which we’re hoping will be up to scratch given the criticisms that dogged The Book of Boba Fett, another wish-fulfillment project that took a longtime franchise favorite and put them in their own episodic adventure.
Speaking to SFX Magazine, producer Michelle Rejwan hinted that Obi-Wan will be kicking things off from a place of darkness, with the exiled hero finding himself going through some serious issues.
“[We find him in] a pretty traumatic moment, where he’s lost so much, where he’s been hiding, where his apprentice and brother, Anakin, has gone to the Dark Side, and he’s been living with that for a decade. We’re really finding him in a place where he’s quite lost, and Ewan was a major part of that conversation.
Because he and Anakin Skywalker are such important characters to Obi-Wan, in the shadow of the events of Revenge Of The Sith. He’s living with how things were left with Anakin on Mustafar, leaving him to die in an incredibly tragic way, because he had no choice. He’s been living with quite a bit of guilt and reflection over this period.”
It sounds like Obi-Wan Kenobi isn’t going to be nonstop sunshine and roses, then, and there promises to be plenty of deep introspection and weighty character moments in among the spectacle-driven chaos that audiences are growing increasingly excited for.