Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi, the upcoming Disney Plus TV series based on the fan-favorite Jedi, has been in development now for quite some time. We’ve known about the show since 2019 and, despite few updates since, what little we do know has us pretty excited nonetheless.
After delays in filming and slowed progress due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, it looks like Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi will see the light of day sometime soon, as production is now scheduled to begin in April 2021.
So what do we know about Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi so far? In this hub for all things Obi-Wan, we’ll be breaking down the cast, news, rumors and everything you need to know about the show ahead of its eventual release.
Cut to the chase
- What is it? An upcoming TV series set in the Star Wars universe
- When can I watch it? 2022
- Where can I watch it? Disney Plus
Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi release date
While a release date for Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi hasn’t been confirmed yet beyond the vague window of 2022, production on the show is set to begin in April 2021. How do we know this? Well, the official Star Wars website revealed as such on March 29. As such, expect trailers to follow either later this year or in early 2022. The latter is much more likely, though, and any first-look at the TV show might come as a post-credits surprise to either The Book of Boba Fett or The Mandalorian season 3.
Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi will most definitely miss the festivities this year, but how great would it be if the show debuted on Disney Plus on May 4, 2022? We can’t think of a better time to release a new project than on Star Wars Day itself, after all. The next Star Wars series to launch on Disney Plus – Star Wars: The Bad Batch – is getting a Star Wars Day release in 2021, so Obi-Wan’s TV show could follow suit next year.
A couple of other interesting tidbits of information concern how many episodes there will be. In an interview with Men’s Journal in October 2019, Ewan McGregor – Obi Wan himself – revealed that the series would comprise six, one-hour episodes. This tracks with other Disney Plus productions made up of six parts, such as MCU series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, so don’t expect Obi-Wan Kenobi to have any more or less than that.
Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi cast
The official Star Wars Twitter account released the following image showcasing the star-studded cast that will make up the main characters of Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi. You can check the tweet out below, and then read on for a bit more on who might be playing who:
Production begins soon on Obi-Wan Kenobi, a special event series coming to #DisneyPlus. pic.twitter.com/9z49eW9VgxMarch 29, 2021
Both Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen have long been confirmed to be reprising their roles of Obi-Wan and Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader respectively. Joel Edgerton and Bonnie Piesse, meanwhile, will also return as Uncle Owen Lars and and his wife Beru (they portrayed the couple in Episode III: Revenge of the Sith), who are relatives of Anakin and Luke Skywalker.
Rounding out the impressive cast are the likes of Indira Varma (Luther), Rupert Friend (The Death of Stalin), Sung Kang (Fast & Furious) and Kumail Nanjiani (Silicon Valley) among many others. Details on their characters are yet to be revealed, but you can expect some to be cast as Imperial commanders or, whisper it quietly, another Jedi Knight who survived Episode III: Revenge of the Sith’s Order 66 execution order.
It’s not just a stellar cast we’re being treated to either, with director Deborah Chow attached to the project. You might know that Chow directed two episodes of The Mandalorian’s first season. Chow and McGregor are also executive producers alongside Kathleen Kennedy, Michelle Rejwan and writer Joby Harold.
Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi: what will the story be about?
Major spoilers for the mainline Star Wars movies appear from this point on. Turn back if you’re one of the few who hasn’t seen them all.
Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi will be set a decade after the events of Revenge of the Sith, in which Anakin Skywalker completed his transition to the Dark Side. For those who might need a refresher, he ends up decimating the Jedi at the behest of Senator Palpatine, becomes Darth Vader, and following a less-than-successful lightsaber duel with Obi-Wan on the planet Mustafar, becomes the helmet-wearing, heavy-breathing Dark Lord of the Sith we know and love.
No doubt it will be interesting to see what events transpired during that 19 year gap between Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars Episode 4: A New Hope. It’s likely that we’ll get to see Owen and Beru raising a young Luke Skywalker. Will we get a better look at how the sleekly-designed technology of the prequel trilogy transitions into the scrappier, junky looking ships and droids from A New Hope onwards? We certainly hope so.
Also, given that Darth Maul canonically survived the end of Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace, there’s potentially a return on the cards for one of the prequel trilogy’s best and most-entertaining villains – though (spoilers) given their eventual re-meeting in the canonical Star Wars: Rebels cartoon, we’re intrigued if this legendary relationsip could be developed any further.
Liam Neeson has also been open to returning to the franchise in Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi as Qui-Gon Jinn, though it’s unclear as to what his role would be, considering the character met his end at the hands of the aforementioned Darth Maul. If Qui-Gon Jinn did return, then, it would most likely be in the form of a Force ghost.