Alright, so as you probably already know, earlier today Disney dropped the teaser trailer for its highly anticipated limited series Obi-Wan Kenobi, which is premiering on Disney+ on May 25.
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Now for Star Wars fans, this is HUGE!!! It's also a long time in the making, as it was reported back in 2017 that Ewan McGregor was set to return as Obi-Wan (who was great in the role and arguably the best part of the prequels) in his own stand-alone movie. However, the movie reportedly got scrapped after Solo: A Star Wars Story underperformed at the box office.
But if you're a more causal fan of the franchise, you might be a little confused and wondering how the heck this fits into the whole Star Wars canon. You're probably also wondering what this is going to be about and who is going to be in it.
Well, if you're one of those people, I am here to help! I am going to break down what we can expect, who is in it or might be in it, and just how this series fits into the Star Wars Universe. But because of this, there might be big potential spoilers.
The backstory you need to know:
At the end of Revenge of the Sith, shortly after the birth of Luke and Leia, Yoda, Obi-Wan, and Bail Organa (played by Jimmy Smits) decided that it was best if they split up the babies and raise them in secret to prevent them from being discovered by Darth Vader and the Emperor. Bail volunteered to adopt Leia and took her back to his home planet of Alderaan.
Meanwhile, Yoda told Obi-Wan to take Luke to Tatooine to be raised by his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru. He also told him to stay on Tatooine and look after him from afar.
Obi-Wan does just that, dropping Luke off with his aunt and uncle (played by Bonnie Piesse and Joel Edgerton) at the home we first saw in A New Hope. In the scene, it's clear that Uncle Owen is weary of Obi-Wan (which was something that was established in A New Hope).
Where this takes place on the timeline:
The series takes place 10 years after the events of Revenge of the Sith and 9 years before the events of A New Hope. Basically at the height of the Empire's power.
What this is going to be about:
Not too much is actually known about the plot. But from what we can tell from the trailer, Obi-Wan is looking over a young Luke on Tatooine and at some point is forced to leave the planet because he is possibly hiding from Inquisitors (I'll explain who they are farther down). The series also has Hayden Christensen returning as Anakin Skywalker, so reportedly the show will be filled with flashbacks to events that happened before Revenge of the Sith — which should add more to Obi-Wan and Anakin's relationship and also help add some more depth to the prequels.
The characters that will be on the series:
Well, OK, obviously Ewan as Obi-Wan! He really was such a highlight of the prequels that I can safely say, "Hello there. We're glad to have you back."
Hayden Christensen as Anakin. Like I said earlier, it's very likely we'll be getting flashback scenes, because it would make no sense to bring Hayden back if that weren't the case. Also, we're getting scenes with a very badass Darth Vader (remember, this would be when he, like the Empire, was at his most powerful).
Joel Edgerton and Bonnie Piesse as Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru.
A young Luke Skywalker. Although, at the beginng of A New Hope, it was established that he didn't really know Obi-Wan, so it's likely that we won't see too much of him.
Rupert Friend as the powerful Grand Inquisitor (a character first introduced in the animated series Stars Wars Rebels).
And who are the Inquisitors? Well, they're basically Jedi hunters. After Order 66 and the fall of the Republic, many Jedi survived. The Emperor knew this, so he put together a group — which are trained and report to Darth Vader — of former Jedi and Force-sensitive people who were tasked with finding and killing the surviving Jedi.
Moses Ingram will play Reva — a new Inquisitor that hasn't appeared in a series or comic before — who goes to Tatooine and is likely the reason Obi-Wan is forced to temporarily leave the planet.
Sung Kang will play the Fifth Brother, an Inquisitor that was also introduced in Star Wars Rebels.
While Indira Varma will play an Imperial officer, possibly one that reports to Reva and accompanies her while hunting Jedi.
Characters that are very likely to appear:
Jimmy Smits as Bail Organa. As the adoptive father of Princess Leia and one of the few people who knows that Obi-Wan is alive, he very likely will be on the show. Plus, Smits has already played the character again in Rogue One.
Which leads me to...a young Leia — if Bail is on the show, we'll definitely get a young Leia (plus we're getting a young Luke, so it would more than make sense). However, like Luke, she doesn't know Obi-Wan personally, so I don't know how much of her we would get on the series.
If Bail and Leia appear, than we're also likely getting at least a cameo by R2-D2 and C-3PO (but only if they use the Tantive IV, after all at this point in the story they're under the care of the ship's captain, Captain Antilles).
Yoda. As the only two Jedi that are aware of each other, it would make sense to have Yoda still be in contact with Obi-Wan and help guide him. However, it might just be through the Force and not face to face. Although, Obi-Wan does leave Tatooine, so maybe he makes a stop on Dagobah to talk with him.
A young Ahsoka Tano. Ahsoka was recently brought to life in live-action by Rosario Dawson in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett, but her story arch goes back further than that. She was once Anakin's Padawan in the time period between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.
The fan-favorite character was first introduced in The Clone Wars movie and later series. The two characters had a strong connection, and it would make sense to establish that in live-action (especially if they're doing flashback scenes). Ahsoka is also one of the few characters that knows that Anakin is Darth Vader (whom she even fought in Rebels).
Temuera Morrison as fan-favorite clone trooper Captain Rex (who was first introduced in The Clone Wars and then went on to appear in Rebels). Rex is one of the few clone troopers that disobeyed Order 66 and later went on to join the rebellion.
Ian McDiarmid as the Emperor. Darth Vader appearing in the series opens up the chance that we'll also see the Emperor too. But I feel that we're very likely to just get a small cameo from the Emperor, possibly in a holoprojector (similar to what we saw in The Empire Strikes Back).
Grand Moff Tarkin. While Peter Cushing — the original actor who played him — died almost 30 years ago, they did bring him back via CGI for Rogue One. But given that this takes place nine years before Rogue One and A New Hope, he would be younger and could be played by somebody else.
Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn. In fact, Liam said he was up for reprising the role early last year.
At the end of Revenge of the Sith, Yoda told Obi-Wan that Qui-Gon had learned how to come back through the Force and that he would teach Obi-Wan how to commune with him.
In fact, we actually saw how Yoda learned that Qui-Gon had done this on an episode of The Clone Wars. In the episode, Yoda is drawn to Dagobah by the Force, and shortly after getting there he hears the voice of Qui-Gon (who was actually voiced by Liam Neeson!). He tells Yoda that he had been learning how to do this while he was alive, but that he was killed before he could fully learn how to appear as a Force Ghost, so therefore he could only come back as a voice.
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Given that Liam could reprise the role as just a voice makes me think that we'll at least hear him on the show. We could also get him back in live-action if he appears in the show during flashbacks — to a time before The Phantom Menace — or as a Force Ghost, if he was truly able to continue to learn how to do it.
Natalie Portman as Padmé Amidala. OK, this would be a HUGE get, but with Hayden coming back it wouldn't be too out there that they bring back Natalie (even if it's just a small cameo) as well — especially if they're doing flashback scenes.
Characters likely NOT appearing:
Grogu (aka Baby Yoda). Given that there is going to be flashbacks and that some are likely to be of the Jedi Temple or Order 66, it wouldn't be out of place to have him in the scenes. However, I think The Mandalorian series will ultimately tell Grogu's whole backstory and how he survived, so I don't see them wanting to tell parts of it here. Plus, his appearance would distract from the Obi-Wan story they want to tell.
So that's everything we know so far and that you need to know ahead of the premiere of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Honestly, May 25th can't come soon enough and all I can say is: Until then, may the Force be with us.
