Now that’s a name I’ve not heard in a long time….
So I was through the roof when it was officially announced at D23 2019 that Ewan McGregor would once again dawn the brown robe of Obi Wan Kenobi. Since then, it’s been a rollercoaster of news about re-writes, shortening the series, delaying the series, and even cancelling the series.
From what we know now I assume the show will be a one season mini series, sort of like the final season of The Clone Wars. People may be disappointed that it’s so short and that brings me to my main point of this blog.
What can this show really be about?
It will be exactly what we think it is, Obi Wan living on Tatooine alone. Not very exciting on paper but it’s about one of the most beloved characters in Star Wars, fans would be happy if the show was just him staring at rocks.
Now obviously the show won’t be Kenobi sitting in a room, stroking his beard for six episodes. It’s going to have cool Force things (possibly Obi talking to Qui Gon?!), we’ll see “nearly old Ben” get into some Tatooine shenanigans, and we could get a cool look into Kenobi/Lars/Skywalker connection. All of that is speculation but I think I’m in the ballpark with that forecast. A stretch of something I’d LOVE to see is at the end of the show if they could somehow reenact the scene from Rebels of Obi Wan and Maul. Very unlikely to happen but hey I can dream.
At the end of the day, the series will give closure to the character in a way (think El Camino if you’re a Breaking Bad fan) and give us a bridge to A New Hope.
It’s similar to Rogue One in that way, and even Solo. Another way this show draws similarities to those two films is that they aren’t even necessary, however they each became two favorites among fans. It’s sort of like when you go to Target for toilet paper and you end up getting a baby Yoda plushie…was it needed? No. Was it fantastic? Hell yeah.
That brings me to the two main reasons I’m absolutely pumped for this show:
1.) McGregor reprising the role of Obi Wan.
2.) My favorite director from The Mandalorian, Deborah Chow, is at the helm.
“We really wanted to select a director who is able to explore both the quiet determination and rich mystique of Obi-Wan in a way that folds seamlessly into the Star Wars saga. Based on her phenomenal work developing our characters in The Mandalorian, I’m absolutely confident Deborah is the right director to tell this story.” -Kathleen Kennedy
If you’re unfamiliar with Chow’s work, she directed the episodes “The Sin” and “The Reckoning” for The Mandalorian…the two highest rated episodes of the series.
Just like Kennedy stated in that quote above, I can’t wait to see what Chow does with the choices at hand after nailing each decision in Mando. Her “Star Wars directing” may have only had about 80 total minutes of runtime but she showed her ability to show strong character progression, epic action, and jaw dropping revelations.
It may be hard to imagine what exactly this show will be about but it’s clear the show is in the right hands for the job. I have no doubt it will go down as a classic piece of Star Wars, whenever it comes out…
