The Obi-Wan series is set.
The much-anticipated Disney+ series starring Ewan McGregor as the Jedi master has revealed its full cast, including a couple of faces familiar to Star Wars fans, and announced production would begin in April.
The cast
The series takes place ten years following the events of Revenge of the Sith as Obi-Wan settles into self-exile on Tatooine, keeping an eye on the young Luke.
McGregor won’t be the only familiar face in the cast as Hayden Christensen will reprise his role as Anakin/Darth Vader. It’s now confirmed Joel Edgerton will reprise his role from the prequels as a young Owen Lars with Bonnie Piesse as his wife, Beru.
The full cast has been announced with Moses Ingram (The Queen’s Gambit), Kumail Nanjiani (The Big Sick), Indira Varma (Game of Thrones), Rupert Friend (Homeland), O’Shea Jackson Jr (Straight Outta Compton), Sung Kang (Han in The Fast and Furious Series), Simone Kessell and Benny Safdie.
Details are still tight on who each actor plays, with rumors abounding Varma could be playing Clone Wars villainess Asajj Ventress.
The most recent notable addition is Nanjiani, who starred in Silicon Valley and appears in Marvel’s The Eternals.
Obi-Wan’s Journey
The series has had numerous stops and starts with it planned for 2019 before various difficulties, including the threat of it being canceled. Like many TV series, the coronavirus pandemic put a further crimp in the production, but McGregor has long been eager to reprise his role.
Being set a decade after Episode III indicates this is an Obi-Wan now used to living on Tatooine and still keeping a watch on young Luke.
The addition of Edgerton indicates the show will explore the conflict between Obi-Wan and Lars. Various Star Wars novels have touched on Lars never happy being saddled with Luke and wanting Obi-Wan to stay away as “the crazy hermit” Ben Kenobi. A meeting between Obi-Wan and the young Luke appears to be inevitable.
The presence of Christensen leads to the idea of a pre-A New Hope meeting between Vader and Obi-Wan. Vader can also be merely a side presence or flashbacks to the pair when they were Jedi friends.
The Star Wars Expansion
The series is just one of several expanding the presence of Star Wars on Disney+ following the huge success of The Mandalorian.
These include three direct Mandalorian spinoffs: Rangers of the New Republic (which might feature Katee Sackhoff’s Bo-Katan); a series focusing on former Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson), and The Book of Boba Fett, where the bounty hunter takes over Jabba the Hutt’s empire.
Also announced is Andor, featuring Rebel spy Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) before Rogue One’s events. Unconfirmed rumors have McGregor appearing as Obi-Wan on that series.
While also not confirmed, speculation is high that Aladdin’s Mena Massoud could be playing Star Wars Rebels hero Ezra Bridger in a live-action project.
With a cast and production date set, this series promises to deepen Obi-Wan Kenobi’s story while giving Star Wars fans another prequel project to get excited about.
Obi-Wan to debut on Disney+ in late 2023.