Obi-Wan Kenobi is almost here with a new adventure for one of the most beloved character in the franchise. Obi-Wan Kenobi will be exploring a time in Obi-Wan’s life that still remains largely a mystery. The Jedi was shown briefly in Rebels watching over a young Luke Skywalker, but this new series will give fans a chance to see what exactly Obi-Wan has been doing while the Empire took over the galaxy.
The Illuminerdi had the opportunity to attend the Obi-Wan Kenobi virtual press conference which included director Deborah Chow along with series stars Ewan McGregor and Moses Ingram. During the press conference Deborah Chow talked about the challenge of fitting the series between Revenge Of The Sith and A New Hope.
DEBORAH CHOW TALKS ABOUT THE CHALLENGES OF WORKING WITHIN THE STAR WARS TIMELINE
“Yeah, I would say that was definitely one of the biggest challenges with this series is that, obviously, we have these huge legacy iconic characters and we’re in between two trilogies. So, in large part we’re telling the second act of a story which is often challenging enough.
So, I think the biggest thing we were looking is to respect the canon and respect what’s been done, but we also needed to have an original story and have an original vision for it. So, I think that was the biggest challenge, but at the same time it was very exciting that we were bringing back two of these huge iconic characters and telling a new story with them.”
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The Star Wars canon continues to grow beyond the films first with animated series like The Clone Wars and Rebels, but now it is expanding even further with the live-action Disney Plus series. Each new addition adds another piece to the puzzle incorporating exciting new possibilities and characters as well. Obi-Wan Kenobi is set squarely in between two of the biggest moments in Star Wars history, the end of the Republic and the beginning of the end of the Empire.
Balancing this is no easy task and on top of that this series will be dealing with two of the biggest characters in Star Wars canon, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader. Obi-Wan Kenobi is primed to dig deeper into Obi-Wan’s character than any other project. Although The Clone Wars did flesh out the time between Attack Of The Clones and Revenge Of The Sith as well as the characters including Obi-Wan it still had to balance multiple storylines and character both established and new.
Now, Obi-Wan Kenobi will be the main focus in a time that will likely be very dark, not only for the galaxy as a whole, but Obi-Wan himself. Deborah Chow talked about finding the right tone of Obi-Wan Kenobi, needing to balance the fact that Obi-Wan is in a dark place personally while also keeping the compassion and hope that the character is famous for.
DEBORAH CHOW TALKS ABOUT FINDING THE RIGHT TONE FOR OBI-WAN KENOBI
“Yeah, the tone, it’s — well, obviously, we’re starting in a pretty dark time period and that was kind of quite interesting not only to start with Obi-Wan’s character in kind of a dark place, but also starting in a period in the timeline that’s quite dark. So, kind of actually gives us a very interesting starting place for the series.
But I think, with the character of Kenobi, for me he’s always felt like there’s so much warmth, there’s so much compassion and humor, that it is kind of a character of light and hope. That it was interesting for us to try to keep the balance of that, of the darkness, but also still maintaining the hope coming from the character.”
Obi-Wan suffered tremendous loss in Revenge Of The Sith with both the Republic and Jedi ceasing to exist caused largely by the deep betrayal of his former Padawan falling to the Dark Side. Now, Obi-Wan is likely still dealing with the grief and trauma while having to hide in order to survive. However, Deborah Chow noting this character’s compassion, hope, and humor is heartening. Even though Obi-Wan will be facing a dark and difficult path he will still at his core have that hope that makes him so interesting and beloved.
Obi-Wan Kenobi will debut on May 27, 2022 with subsequent episodes premiering on Wednesdays on Disney Plus. Are you excited for Obi-Wan Kenobi? Are you looking forward to exploring what happened to Obi-Wan between Revenge Of The Sith and A New Hope? What are you most excited to see in the new series? Leave your thoughts in the comments below or on our social media and check back with The Illuminerdi for more Star Wars and Obi-Wan Kenobi.
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