With this week marking the return of two of Star Wars‘ most iconic characters, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, it’s time to turn our attention to a galaxy far, far away! Fans have waited years to see what happened since we last saw Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen in their respective roles, and Obi-Wan Kenobi will finally give us those answers!
Set to take place ten years after the events of Order 66, and when a younger Obi-Wan forced a Baby Luce Skywalker into hiding with his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru. Obi-Wan Kenobi will reintroduce is to the character as he stays on the desert planet of Tatooine, to keep a watch over young Luke as his Father, Darth Vader and the Empire will stop at nothing to find them.
The following article is a deep dive into things I’m hoping to see during the show’s run on Disney+, including some excerpts from the recent Global Press Conference for the show, kindly provided by Josh.
Things I Hope to See In ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’
Obi-Wan
For Obi-Wan, we are picking up 10 years after he lost everything. Firstly, his apprentice, Anakin, who was like a brother to him, then his religion in the form of the Jedi, and then his entire way of life. After Anakin’s fall to the dark side, I hope that in this series we get to see Obi-Wan struggling with this past and questioning the Jedi code, to which he had devoted his life.
In Revenge of the Sith, there is a great exchange between Anakin and Obi where Anakin says, “From my point of view, the Jedi are evil”. I hope to see that line and that idea haunt Obi-Wan as he tries to deal with this new post-Jedi world he now finds himself in
We see Obi-Wan arguing with Uncle Owen to train Luke in the trailer, so he hasn’t completely abandoned the Jedi Code. I think it’s a good chance he will come across another Jedi and that is what is going to set us on our journey in the show, and how the Inquisitors learn of him in hiding.
During the recent Global Press Conference, Ewan McGregor described what it was like stepping back into the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi, 10 years after we last saw the character in Revenge of the Sith:
I think because of what happens at the end of Episode III, Revenge of the Sith… you know, for 10 years, Obi-Wan has been in hiding. He can’t communicate with any of his old comrades and he’s living a pretty solitary life. He’s not able to use the Force. So, in a way, he’s lost his faith. It’s like somebody who’s stepped away from their religion or something, if you like… to take him [Obi-Wan] to this more sort of broken place was really interesting to do.
Ewan McGregor speaking at the ‘OBI-WAN KENOBI’ Global Press Conference, May 2022
Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader
We’re set to catch up with Vader in the series, following Order 66, when Vader and his Inquisitors are travelling the galaxy, actively seeking and hunting down the remaining Jedi who survived Order 66. The show is set to introduce us to a number of Inquisitors – The Grand Inquisitor (Rupert Friend), Fifth Brother (Sung Kang), and Reva (Moses Ingram).
Following the events of Order 66 and being defeated by Obi-Wan, I imagine his search for Obi-Wan to be the one thing keeping his rage alive. At the end of the day, all Anakin wanted was to save Padme, and he felt betrayed by both the religion that was supposed to protect him and the mentor that was supposed to stand by him.
I hope this series gives us a little bit of that internal conflict that Vader is experiencing. We know in the end, he comes back to the light side so I hope in the show we get to see hints of Anakin and that light side still in there, but Vader is just killing Jedi and using his hate for Kenobi to smother that light with rage.
Possible Cameos
Qui-Gon Jinn
Before he set off to Tatooine, Yoda assigned Obi-Wan to train with the force ghost of Qui-Gon Jinn, his former master. Qui-Gon, before his death, found a way to become one with the force upon death. An ability he then taught to Yoda (seen in The Clone Wars).
Fast forward to Return of the Jedi, and we see Obi-Wan return as a Force Ghost, so we know that he must learn this ability from Qui-Gon at some point. I think it’s highly possible we will get a cameo from Liam Neeson showing this training. I think it will most likely just be a voice-over as opposed to a full cameo, but I think it’s very likely.
Black Krrsantan
We first saw Black Krrsantan make his first live-action appearance in The Book of Boba Fett. He was widely popular with fans and came from the Star Wars comics. Black Krrsantan’s first introduction in the books shows him facing off against Obi-Wan on Tatooine, and Obi-Wan leaves him a scar from his lightsaber, which is clearly visible in The Book of Boba Fett. I think with the popularity of the character from The Book of Boba Fett, it’s a good bet that we could see this early fight between Black Krrsantan and Obi-Wan and the origin of that scar.
Cal Kestis
Cal Kestis is a Jedi character from the Jedi: Fallen Order video game, who escaped the disastrous events of Order 66. The game takes place 5 years after Order 66 and deals with Cal trying to recover a Holocron with the locations of other force-sensitive children across the galaxy.
During the events of the game, we discover that Darth Vader and the Inquisitors also want this Holocron to locate and kill all the force-sensitive children. The last we see of Cal is when he destroys the Holocron and goes off with his crew, still being hunted by the Inquisitors and Vader.
This series will be taking place roughly 5 years after the events of the game, so Cal would still be relatively young. Cal is also played by Cameron Monaghan, an arguably well-known actor. It’s been long rumoured that Monaghan would transfer to live-action at some point, and I think this series would be a perfect place for him to show up.
We know Vader and the Inquisitors are still after him, and we also saw his droid BD-1 show up on Tatooine during the events of The Book of Boba Fett, which means that Cal had to be on Tatooine at some point.
Obi-Wan Kenobi arrives exclusively on Disney+ with a two-episode premiere on Friday 27th May, with weekly episodes releasing every Wednesday onwards. Check out a trailer below:
