If there is a character remembered –and also loved– in the Star Wars universe, it is Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Jedi master of the old Galactic Republic, mentor of Anakin and Luke Skywalker.
In the Star Wars saga it has been personified by two actors: in episodes IV, V and VI (between 1977 and 1983) he was an older Obi-Wan played by the late Alec Guinness. In the episodes I, II and III (between 1999 and 2005) was much younger and the actor Ewan McGregor appeared from the paper.
McGregor returns to this character, after 17 years, with the series Obi-Wan Kenobi which opens tomorrow – with a double chapter – on Disney + and finds Obi-Wan in a psychological and spiritual state very different from the one he was in the trilogy in which he was.
Before McGregor explains what he found with this Obi-Wan after all this time, let’s refresh our memory.
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith
After this 2005 film, Obi-Wan was not heard from again. In the last scenes of that film and “spoiler alert”, the Jedi Master fought with his student Anakin Skywalker. The fight did not end well for Anakin who was badly injured and burned (and became Darth Vader). Then twins Luke and Leia were born (children of Anakin and Padmé who died in childbirth) and Obi-Wan took the former to Tatooine and promised to protect him. Up to this point, no one knew about him.
the series begins 10 years after those dramatic events: “We started with the idea that he was broken,” McGregor said. He was a man who had been broken by the experience of Order 66 and by having lost his faith. I found it interesting to take him to a darker place and then see, over the course of the series, how he finds faith again and returns to being the Obi-Wan we knew and loved.”
This series will have six episodes that will premiere a new chapter every Friday.
What are the fans waiting for?
César Leguizamón, academic director of Comic Con, hopes that the series resolves many questions, such as what happened to Luke in all this time since Obi-Wan left him in the hands of his uncles? or if at some point Vader and Obi-Wan met again.
Because in addition to McGregor there is also another familiar face in the series, that of Hayden Christensen who returns as Darth Vader.
And if you have to measure the anxiety of the followers of the saga from 1 to 10, Leguizamón says that his and that of many fans is at 45 (regarding the 45 years of the saga), “it is very interesting because they are going to spinning the story, they continue to give context to what has been seen in other spaces, movies, series, video games, comics, books and they are making room for situations that one did not have in mind, “he concludes
Disney+’s proposal (in order) to update before starting to watch the complete series (new chapters will be released every Friday) is that you see:
1. Star Wars: Episodio I – The Phantom Menace (1999)
2. Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002)
3. Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Animated Movie – 2008)
4. Star Wars: The Clone Wars (animated series – 2008) here they first recommend watching season 2 and episodes from 12 to 16; then season 4, from chapter 15 to 18 and finally season 5 from episode 14 to 16)
5. Star Wars: Episodio III – Revenge of the Sith (2005)