Ewan McGregor used the Emmys to tease his upcoming Star Wars TV series Obi-Wan Kenobi. The Trainspotting star is dusting off his brown robe and returning to a galaxy, far, far away for a new Disney Plus sci-fi series which is due for release next year. Still, McGregor’s already made it clear that it won’t disappoint fans.
“We finished shooting our series, and it was really, really good fun. I really enjoyed working with [director/executive producer] Deborah Chow, and I think it will not disappoint,” he said. “The new technology that we employed doing it is cool, and it was a different experience than making the original three films that I did.”
Directed by Deborah Chow, who worked on The Mandalorian’s first season, the series will begin ten years after the dramatic events of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. Obi-Wan will follow the Jedi master as he watches over Luke Skywalker on Tatooine and tries to come to terms with his greatest failure – the corruption of his apprentice, Anakin Skywalker.
While we don’t know much about the exact plot president of Lucasfilm, Kathleen Kennedy, has teased a Vader and Obi-Wan reunion. “This will be the rematch of the century,” Kennedy said at Disney’s Investor Day in 2019. Kennedy also confirmed that Hayden Christensen would be reprising the role of Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker for the show.
“It was such an incredible journey playing Anakin Skywalker,” Christensen told StarWars.com. “Of course, Anakin and Obi-Wan weren’t on the greatest of terms when we last saw them… It will be interesting to see what an amazing director like Deborah Chow has in store for us all. I’m excited to work with Ewan again. It feels good to be back.”
"I think it will not disappoint," #Emmy winner Ewan McGregor of the upcoming #ObiWanKenobi series. https://t.co/mIawnJn2Ad pic.twitter.com/o2ePIy2Dww
— Variety (@Variety) September 20, 2021
It’s been a bumpy road to the small screen for Kenobi. Production on the show began as far back as 2019, with Drive screenwriter Hossein Amini being tapped to write the series. He pitched a story based on the samurai films that inspired George Lucas to make Star Wars, and pre-production began on this series in 2020.
Production quickly came to a halt, though with rumours going around that the series had been cancelled. These rumours turned out to be false, with The Hollywood Reporter breaking the news that the series had been delayed because Kennedy wasn’t happy with the scripts. THR’s sources claimed that Amini’s scripts were too close to The Mandalorian with Kenobi watching over a young Jedi, in the same way Din Djarin protected Grogu.
Obi-Wan Kenobi is scheduled to be released in 2022