Star Wars fans were blown away by the news that Ewan McGregor was returning for an Obi-Wan Kenobi TV series on Disney Plus, when it was officially announced last fall. This week, a new report that’s doing the rounds says McGregor will be joined by his fellow prequels veteran, Hayden Christensen, on the show, which has got folks even more excited. Having both of them back could really help add more nuance and extra dimensions to the Obi-Wan/Anakin Skywalker dynamic. But the question is: how could Christensen return?
That remains to be seen, but ScreenRant has put forward one way they see it playing out. Obviously, it stands to reason that the actor would be returning as Anakin and not Vader. Vader and Obi-Wan don’t see each other again until A New Hope, and in any case, Christensen doesn’t perform the Sith Lord himself. This means that he has to be back through flashbacks.
LRM Online, who shared the news of his return, says he’s set for a big role on the series. So, this would mean that flashbacks would be a prominent feature of the show.
Seeing as it’ll be based around the Jedi Master’s life as a hermit on Tatooine, the Obi-Wan series will no doubt feature a lot of soul-searching as he struggles with his guilt and regret over the downfall of his protégé and friend. Flashbacks to the glory days before the fall of the Republic, when they fought side by side, could help dramatize this. For instance, maybe Kenobi could recall moments where he wished he made different choices.
As ScreenRant explains:
If written well, this could even continue the process of building upon the prequels by adding new dimensions to Anakin’s fall, as Obi-Wan realizes he had been blind to hints the fire of the dark side burned within his friend. It could even help to subtly refine Lucas’ portrayal of Obi-Wan in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, revealing how Obi-Wan’s subtle regret over not being free to pursue a relationship with Satine led him to pretend he didn’t know about Anakin’s romance with Padmé.
Fans have always wanted to go deeper into Obi-Wan’s headspace during the period of the prequels, and dig into how much he suspected or knew about Anakin, and it seems Disney Plus’ Obi-Wan Kenobi show could be exactly what they’re after.