Ewan McGregor Returns in ‘Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi’: Everything to Know About the Disney+ Show

Credit: Courtesy Star Wars/YouTube

Ewan McGregor Returns in 'Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi': Everything to Know About the Disney+ Show

Strike him down and he will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine — and he might get his own spinoff too. Star Wars fans have been eagerly anticipating an Obi-Wan Kenobi show since development began in 2017, and now it's finally happening. Titled Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Disney+ limited series is set to premiere in May 2022 and will star Ewan McGregor as a younger version of the character played by the late Alec Guinness in the original film trilogy. The show was initially conceived as a feature-length film, but in 2019, Disney decided to make it a TV series instead. The Moulin Rouge! star played Obi-Wan in the Star Wars prequel trilogy that began in 1999, and he was thrilled to get back in the character's robes. [embed]https://youtu.be/TWTfhyvzTx0[/embed] "I loved playing him again," the Scottish actor told Forbes in February 2022. "I mean, it’s quite interesting, after the experience of making the first three films and living through sort of their reception in the world, which wasn’t always glowing, I have to say. And then now, meeting the generation who we made those films for, the children then — and now, people in their late teens or early 20s, those people who were [the] kids who we made those films for, they loved them. To them, they’re their Star Wars films, you know?" Plot details are of course wrapped in secrecy, but producers have confirmed that the show takes place 10 years after the events of Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith. At the end of that film, Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) completed his transformation into Darth Vader after a duel with Obi-Wan. His wife, Padmé (Natalie Portman), gave birth to twins Luke and Leia, who were later separated for safety purposes. When the new show begins, Obi-Wan will be on the planet Tatooine watching over young Luke, who was sent to live with his Uncle Owen (Joel Edgerton) and Aunt Beru (Bonnie Piesse). McGregor confirmed that Christensen is set to return as Anakin, but he refused to reveal any additional details about what might happen in the series. "I’m not going to give away anything else about the story line, only I think it’s really going to satisfy Star Wars fans," he told Forbes in the same interview. "I think we crafted or they crafted a very fine story line. I think people are going to like it.” Keep scrolling for more details about Obi-Wan Kenobi: [podcast_block]

Credit: Courtesy Star Wars/YouTube

When Does It Premiere?

The first installment of the six-episode limited series will debut on Disney+ May 27, 2022.

Credit: Lucasfilm/Fox/Kobal/Shutterstock

Vader Is Back

Star Wars fans are excited about the return of Darth Vader — and so is Christensen, who played the character in the prequel films. "Without getting into too much detail, it was amazing," the actor told Entertainment Weekly in March 2022, reflecting on how it felt to return to the franchise. "It's a great honor to get to put that suit on." 

Revenge of the Sith debuted nearly 20 years ago, but Christensen said it felt "natural" to return to the role. "I was just really excited to get to come in and play Darth Vader at this point in the timeline because it did feel like a natural continuation of your journey with the character," he explained. "And that was very meaningful for me."

Credit: Disney+

New Music

Legendary composer John Williams wrote an original Obi-Wan theme for the new show, but Natalie Holt was in charge of completing the rest of the series' music. The Loki composer is the first woman ever to score a live-action Star Wars project. "I think it’s an emotional score, and it does have its roots in the Star Wars tradition a little more than The Mandalorian does," Holt told Vanity Fair in April 2022. "We had a collection of 250 horns and flutes, and I used this hunting horn in the score. We’re also blending the orchestra with some more modern synths sounds as well. It’s definitely what we’re used to and a few new elements."

None of Holt's new music appears in teasers for the series because it's all still a secret, but she hinted that she drew inspiration from all over the world. "There are some Latin influences in one of the planets," she explained. "There’s some Thai, Hong Kong, some sounds that are more Eastern. Definitely you take flavors from around the world, and then try and turn them into something ... otherworldly. You’re on Star Wars, you’re scoring a planet, it has to have scale."

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Is That Luke?!

A new trailer released on Star Wars Day 2022 gave fans a glimpse of a young Luke Skywalker. "When the time comes, he must be trained," Obi-Wan says. Uncle Owen, however, isn't having it, replying, "Like you trained his father?" At the end of the teaser, the aforementioned father appears in his Darth Vader costume, and the soundtrack plays a clip of the villain's mechanized breathing sound.

Credit: Disney+

A ‘Dark Time’ to Be a Jedi

“At this point, both for him and for the galaxy, it's quite a dark period. And that actually made it really interesting to be telling a story in this period,” director Deborah Chow told Entertainment Weekly in May 2022. “It's a time when the Empire's ascending, it's post-Order 66. So most of the Jedi have been killed. A lot of them are being hunted by the Inquisitors. So it's a very dark time to be a Jedi and most of them are hiding or dead. So for him at this point 10 years later, we're dealing with post-Order 66 after Anakin, who he believes he killed, and then all his friends — everybody sort of gone or hiding. So it's a tough period for Obi-Wan.”

Credit: Disney+/Lucasfilm

A Young Princess Leia Appears

The first two episodes of the Disney+ hit, which aired Friday, May 27, debut a young Princess Leia Organa, played by “Bird Box” actress Vivien Lyra Blair, 10.