Executive producer Joby Harold recently revealed that the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series borrows story ideas from the canceled Star Wars spin-off film. Due to the fact that Obi-Wan Kenobi was originally made with the intent of being shown in theaters, it naturally utilized some of the plot points that would have made it to the big screen in the now-scrapped Star Wars movie.
Harold, who also serves as the Star Wars show’s head writer, will be executive producing the series, and he has quite the team behind him. Joining him alongside production for the show is Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy, Lucasfilm's Senior Vice President of Live Action and Development and Production Michelle Rejwan, director Deborah Chow, and actor Ewan McGregor. The series is set to pick up nearly a decade after Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith. The plot will explore Obi-Wan Kenobi's time spent living in complete exile on Tatooine, as he watches fiercely over a young Skywalker from the distance. McGregor will star in the titular Jedi alongside Hayden Christensen as Darth Vader, Joel Edgerton as Owen Lars, Bonnie Piesse as Beru Whitesun Lars, Moses Ingram, Indira Varma, Rupert Friend, and Sung Kang. After years spent in secret development, the Star Wars series finally began production back in May 2021.
It was then announced that franchise alum John Williams would be returning to write the main theme as well. Filming on the show officially wrapped in September, and now Obi-Wan Kenobi's release date is quickly approaching. The creative team behind the highly anticipated show has recently shared the thought process and intentionality that went into the making of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Executive producer Joby Harold sat down with SFX Magazine to talk about his new series Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Throughout Harold recalling the series’ prolonged development, he confirmed that the Disney Plus show did end up using some story ideas that originally belonged to the canceled Star Wars spinoff movie. “We certainly inherited a lot of ideas from the [story] developments in the past, but there are also a lot of new directions and ideas we explored - building off some of those things we inherited," he stated. "It feels lovely that it's now this limited series, because it gives you enough room to really build the character out. You can actually now spend some time with Obi-Wan in his normal world before some of the things you saw in the teaser transpire.”
As a result of Star Wars: The Force Awakens' release helping to revitalize the franchise, Lucasfilm set their sights on developing a variety of other spinoff films. Most notably was one spotlighting and centering McGregor's Obi-Wan Kenobi. The return of McGregor's Obi-Wan Kenobi has been something fans have been hoping and praying for. They will be happy and pleased to know that the seemingly eternal wait time is finally about to be over.
Obi-Wan Kenobi will be available for streaming through Disney Plus on May 27th, 2022.
Source: SFX Magazine (via Comic Book Resources)