Holy Sith! Ewan McGregor is slipping back into the hooded cloak of the old wizard we first met back in 1977’s Episode IV—A New Hope, and he’s bringing the franchise’s original baddie with him!
Set 10 years after McGregor’s exiled Jedi Master delivered a newborn Luke to Owen and Beru Lars (Joel Edgerton and Bonnie Piesse, also returning) on Tatooine at the end of 2005’s Episode III—Revenge of the Sith, this limited-series adventure, which was first announced in 2019, finds life far from hopeful for old Ben Kenobi and his Force-powered pals.
(Credit: Lucasfilm Ltd., courtesy Everett Collection)
Not only is he still on young Skywalker protection duty, but he also needs to be on guard for his own safety. “There are Jedi hunters out there,” showrunner-director Deborah Chow ominously warns. “This is a dark time we’re coming into.”
Not to mention a Darth time too: Hayden Christensen is also returning to screens as the terrifying Sith Lord Darth Vader. The series will finally reunite a guilt-ridden Ben with the corrupted former Padawan he left for dead after their epic lightsaber duel over the flowing lava of the planet Mustafar in Revenge.
And with a decade or so of Dark Side training, you can bet that the heavy-breathing villain is gearing up for a rematch. “We couldn’t tell the story of Obi-Wan Kenobi without addressing [his history with Vader],” Chow admits. Additional casting has so far also included Kumail Nanjiani, Indira Varma, Moses Ingram, Rupert Friend, O’Shea Jackson Jr., and Maya Erskine in roles as mysterious as, well, Obi-Wan himself.
Obi-Wan Kenobi, Series Premiere, 2022, Disney+
