Obi-Wan Kenobi Disney+: What We Know So Far
Hello there.
The well-loved, well-respected Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi is finally returning to this side of the galaxy — and he'll do it through his own solo adventure series on Disney+.
Following years of reports claiming that an Obi-Wan Kenobi movie was in development at Lucasfilm and numerous statements from Scottish actor Ewan McGregor indicating that he was ready, willing, and able to reprise his role from the Star Wars prequels, Lucasfilm confirmed during the 2019 D23 Expo that an Obi-Wan Kenobi series is in the works. And yes, McGregor is grabbing the lightsaber and becoming one with the Force for Obi-Wan Kenobi, bringing back to life the character he portrayed in The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith.
To say that an Obi-Wan Kenobi series has been a long time coming would be a gross understatement, and to imply that Star Wars fans are anything but elated over the news would be doing the passionate fandom a disservice. Those looking for more intel on Obi-Wan Kenobi — like when it'll arrive on Disney+, who will join McGregor on the series' cast, and when the first trailer will drop — have come to the right place. Here's everything we know about Obi-Wan Kenobi so far.
What is Obi-Wan Kenobi's release date?
It pains us to say this, but Obi-Wan Kenobi is standing without a release date. All Lucasfilm confirmed of the show upon the initial announcement was that A) it's underway, B) Ewan McGregor is leading, and C) it will arrive on the Disney+ streaming platform ... at some point in time.
When that time will come is a Death Star-sized mystery for now, and while one could usually glean some ideas about the topic by taking a gander at what else Lucasfilm has planned for its Star Wars presence on Disney+, that unfortunately does little to resolve the uncertainty. However, what does help is something that Ewan McGregor said in February 2021. During Eddie Izzard's charity show (via Reddit), McGregor shared that Obi-Wan Kenobi will begin shooting in late spring 2021. He also said that the production is taking place in Los Angeles, not in Boston or England, as previously rumored.
Factoring in the time it takes to film, edit, adjust, score, package, and promote a show, it looks like a spring or summer 2022 debut is feasible for Obi-Wan Kenobi. Things may change and the release date could be sooner or later than anticipated. Fans can practice their lightsaber moves, imagine what it would be like to summon the Force, and buy themselves a snazzy Jedi robe to pass the time until then.
Who's been cast in the Obi-Wan Kenobi series?
Ewan McGregor is currently the only person on the Obi-Wan Kenobi cast. It makes sense given it's his series and he's the most important person to lock in, but it's likely a bummer for fans to know that no one else has been announced for the Disney+ show.
That hasn't kept the wheel of speculation from spinning, though. Some are eager to see other pre-original trilogy characters like Emilia Clark's Qi'ra, who appeared in the Han Solo prequel film Solo: A Star Wars Story, potentially pop up alongside Obi-Wan. Others have their fingers crossed for iconic figures such as Darth Maul or even a young Darth Vader give the Jedi Master a run for his money on the forthcoming series. While those ideas would be incredible to see pan out on the small screen, they remain just that — ideas — for the time being.
Something that may be more than just a thought is word that the Obi-Wan Kenobi series will feature a younger version of one of Star Wars' most famous characters. According to a report by FandomWire, Disney and Lucasfilm are looking to cast a young Luke Skywalker for the in-development show. With the purported inclusion of young Luke comes another rumored piece of casting: Owen Lars, Luke's uncle who helped raised him on Tattooine. Joel Edgerton played Uncle Owen in the Star Wars prequel films, and sources close to FandomWire are claiming that he'll reprise that role for Obi-Wan Kenobi.
At Disney's 2020 Investor Day event, held on December 10, it was announced that Hayden Christensen will reprise his role as Darth Vader in the Obi-Wan Kenobi series.
When does the Obi-Wan Kenobi series take place?
In news that breaks up the pattern of "hey, we don't know much about the series," Lucasfilm confirmed at the Disney+ D23 presentation that Obi-Wan Kenobi does indeed take place after the prequel films and before the original trilogy (and the sequel movies, of course).
While it was originally reported that Obi-Wan Kenobi would take place eight years following the events of 2005's Revenge of the Sith – in which Ewan McGregor's Obi-Wan Kenobi delivered the infant Luke Skywalker to Owen and Beru Lars on Tattooine — the place where he went into exile and where Luke was raised — it was later confirmed in December 2020 that the series begins ten years after that movie.
This means that Obi-Wan Kenobi takes place within the same general frame of time as Solo: A Star Wars Story, which makes those theories about Obi-Wan and Darth Maul possibly crossing paths fairly likely.
What's the plot of the Obi-Wan Kenobi series?
Originated by the late Sir Alec Guinness in A New Hope, Obi-Wan Kenobi was first introduced as a hermit named Ben Kenobi, who was living on Tattooine in relative peace. That all changed when Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) rocked up to Obi-Wan's humble abode with his droid pals C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) and R2-D2, who played a recording of Princess Leia (the late Carrie Fisher) asking for Obi-Wan's help in bringing the plans for the Galactic Empire's Death Star super-weapon — which are located inside R2-D2 — to her home planet of Alderaan. In the prequel trilogy, fans met a 25-year-old Obi-Wan (played by Ewan McGregor), who mentored and befriended the infamous Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) — the father of Luke Skywalker who turned to the dark side of the Force and became Darth Vader.
Since the Star Wars franchise has already explored young Obi-Wan and old(er) Obi-Wan, the new story about the character will see what he gets up to in between that time and how he's been processing the collapse of the Jedi Order. While Disney and Lucasfilm haven't yet revealed the plot synopsis for Obi-Wan Kenobi, McGregor himself dropped a breadcrumb about the show's story during an October 2019 interview with Men's Journal.
"The storyline sits between Episode III and Episode IV," the actor said. "It will be interesting to take a character we know in a way and show him—Well, his arc will be quite interesting, I think, dealing with that the fact that all the Jedi were slaughtered with the end of Episode III. It's quite something to get over."
Is there a trailer for the Obi-Wan Kenobi series yet?
Not a whole lot about the Obi-Wan Kenobi Disney+ series has been confirmed as of yet, and the show hasn't started production, so there's no trailer for the series at the time of this writing.
But worry not, dear Star Wars fans — the wait for an Obi-Wan Kenobi trailer shouldn't be too agonizing. The anticipated production start date of late spring 2021 should see a potential trailer for Obi-Wan Kenobi dropping in late 2021 at the very earliest. If nothing else, Lucasfilm might gift unto the masses sneak-peek snaps and tiny first-look clips of the Obi-Wan Kenobi series to hold them over until a full trailer is ready for public consumption.