“General Kenobi!” Soon, we’ll be able to say “hello there” to the untitled Obi-Wan Kenobi series after Ewan McGregor announced the show will begin filming in March 2021, according to his interview with the Graham Norton Show last week.
“We start filming in March of next year,” McGregor said in the interview. “It’s not all me but it certainly will be a lot of me which is good.”
The long-anticipated Kenobi series, which in its earliest stages was planned to be a movie, was originally announced in 2019 by Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy and will be directed by Deborah Chow, who directed two episodes of Disney+’s The Mandalorian.
But production was delayed back in January for script rewrites and further character development, as reported by Vanity Fair.
Aside from McGregor’s filming confirmation date, not much else has been officially confirmed in regards to when the show will officially reach the streaming platform.
The show will be a limited series, according to McGregor, with six episodes that are an hour long. As to whether or not a second season is possible has yet to be decided or considered.
“As I understand, it’s a standalone season,” McGregor said in an interview with Entertainment Tonight. “We’ll see. Who knows?”
Boardwalk Times breaks down all the confirmed information for our Master’s spin-off show and what we could possibly see from this long-anticipated series.
What’s it about?
The Kenobi story is going to take place eight years after Revenge of the Sith as Obi-Wan is living in exile on Tatooine watching young Luke Skywalker. In other words, a time period that we really don’t have much information on regarding his exile. Other than The Last of the Jedi book series written by Jude Law in 2001 (and no longer a part of the canon universe) there isn’t much about what Obi-Wan did while in exile other than hide away in a hut on Tatooine to watch over Luke.
The specifics of the story have not been revealed to the public, but we can definitely expect to see Obi-Wan struggling after the tragic downfall of the Jedi Order. We might also see Obi-Wan begin to test his faith in the Force and whether or not he continues to hold onto the Jedi Code as he did so strongly in the prequels trilogy.
But there is a lot to speculate on who Obi-Wan might encounter in the series and it most likely won’t be a brand new character. After his brief appearance at the end of Solo and short, epic battle resulting in his death in Star Wars Rebels Season Five, it is almost teased that Maul could have an impact on this storyline.
Darth Maul first appeared in the Star Wars universe in The Phantom Menace when he killed Obi-Wan’s master Qui-Gon Jinn and was later sliced in half by Obi-Wan. While he ‘died’ in the first movie, the Zabrak made an appearance in The Clone Wars and Rebels with the sole purpose of hunting down Kenobi and seeking revenge.
As to whether Darth Maul will make an appearance in the show, or what the premise of the show will be has yet to be announced.
Who will be in it?
So far, the only actor confirmed has been Ewan McGregor himself to play the fallen Jedi Master. McGregor has also been one of the sole sources for news and updates on the show itself. McGregor, who originally played the younger Obi-Wan in the prequel trilogy, has not made an appearance with the franchise since his 2005 role in Revenge of the Sith.
Though the first Obi-Wan Kenobi was played by Sir Alec Guinness in the original trilogy (who passed away in 2000), McGregor said Guinness has played a big role in redeveloping Obi-Wan’s character now that we’re seeing Obi-Wan in that middle ground between Sith and A New Hope.
“Now I’m closer in age [to] when he did the first one… I think it’ll be really interesting now to go through that experience again and to start watching Alec Guinness,” McGregor said.
As for the other characters, rumors have circulated about what actors could also be making a reappearance in the Star Wars universe. One of the biggest speculations being Hayden Christensen reprising his role as Anakin Skywalker in some form or fashion.
It’s also been rumored that Darth Vader would make an appearance with a story arc of the Sith Lord on an assault mission to hunt his former master.
It is also rumored that Commander Cody will also be making an appearance, either as a StormTrooper under the Empire’s battalion or also in flashbacks to when he was a Commander for the Republic.
The Hollywood Reporter said that Temuera Morrison (who portrayed Jango Fett and the clones in the prequels) will return to Star Wars to possibly play Boba Fett in the second season of The Mandalorian. So is it possible that he could also be portraying Cody in the Kenobi series?
And last but not least, we can’t forget Yoda’s last lines in Revenge of the Sith, “An old friend has learned the path of immortality. One who has returned from the netherworld of the Force. Your old master.”
Qui-Gon Jinn, Kenobi’s former master killed by Darth Maul, made an appearance in The Clone Wars as a Force Ghost who spoke to Obi-Wan in Season Three and as a voice that spoke to Yoda at the end of Season Seven.
But as to whether Liam Neeson will reprise his role as the late Jedi Master is still up in the air. Some reports have said Neeson will not appear in the show while others have said if Neeson does appear, it will be a very small cameo and most likely a voiceover. Or it may just be flashbacks from The Phantom Menace.
Production and release date
In an interview with ACE Universe, McGregor said that production will be similar to The Mandalorian. While the prequel trilogies primarily used chroma key film production, or the use of blue-screen for backgrounds and settings, the sets for the show will use Industrial Light & Magic’s StageCraft technology.
According to an article by TechCrunch, StageCraft involves multiple LED production screens that not only project a background but also move along with the camera as the scene is being filmed. It helps give the illusion that the actor is actually standing in a particular setting rather than immersed by a bunch of screens.
“And so when you’re on set, if you’re in a snowscape or something, well, when you look around, you see that. And it makes you feel like you’re in the place; I think it’s going to be more, it’s going to feel realer for us, for the actors. And I think we’ll be using some of that technology on our show,” McGregor said.
The only date Disney has said for the potential release date of the Kenobi series is sometime in early 2022. Kenobi would arrive exclusively on Disney+.
This is a developing story.
Sara Edwards is the Star Wars Writer for Boardwalk Times
