Why Disney+ putting the Obi-Wan Kenobi series on hold is a good thing

Last week, we learned that Disney+’s planned Obi-Wan Kenobi limited series — with Ewan McGregor returning to the role he played in the Star Wars prequels — is on hold so the scripts can be rewritten. According to The Hollywood Reporter, those scripts would have seen the venerable Jedi Master protecting Luke Skywalker between the events of Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. “I think the scripts are great,” McGregor told Variety, reassuring worried fans. “They’re in really good shape. They want them to be better. I think we keep our same air date. All good.”

Although we don’t know the details, this sounds like a good idea, particularly if you, like me, think the idea of Obi-Wan guarding Luke on Tatooine sounds about as exciting as moisture farming for the rest of your life.

First and foremost, let’s agree that Luke was put in the worst witness protection program in the galaxy, sheltered by his closest living relatives without changing his name on his father’s home planet. No one was afraid that word might not get back to Vader or the Emperor or someone? And if it did, I don’t think Obi-Wan could have defended Young Luke from the full weight of the Empire coming down on him, or at least, he couldn’t do it without exposing himself. And yet, I imagine that’s what the Obi-Wan show would have involved. It seems more likely that Owen and Beru and everyone just got lucky and nobody caught wind that Darth Vader’s son was alive and bored on some desert backwater.

And let’s assume that this version of the show did make it to air. What would be the point? I’ve long assumed that Obi-Wan probably warded off the occasional bounty hunter or whatever who got too close to Luke’s secret, but watching him do that doesn’t seem like compelling television, not for so powerful and iconic a character. Give me something original! Let’s see Obi-Wan off in some corner of the galaxy accomplishing something only a Jedi Master can, not playing a glorified babysitter to someone hiding in plain sight.

But if Disney insists on going in that direction, maybe I could be sold on Obi-Wan protecting Leia from the Empire, rather than protecting Luke. The secret of Leia’s true nature was kept from everyone, including herself, until the events of Return of the Jedi. Protecting someone’s actual secret identity sounds far more intriguing than guarding Luke in the open. Keeping someone from knowing their true identity is the type of morally grey trick Obi-Wan pulled on Luke, who long thought his father was killed by Darth Vader only to learn that his father was Darth Vader. That sounds like the beginnings of an interesting show.

Image: Star Wars: The Last Jedi/Disney/Lucasfilm

As an added bonus, Obi-Wan protecting Leia would allow us a look into what she was doing during this time. Best we can tell, Luke spent his time on Tatooine staring at sunsets and bagging womp rats on his speeder. Meanwhile, Leia was fostering a rebellion while navigating the political landscape of the Imperial Senate, which sounds like a lot more fun. We’ve also beaten Tatooine into the dust at this point, whereas Leia’s home planet of Alderaan is largely unexplored on screen, and growing to love it over a mini-series could even retroactively cause its destruction in A New Hope to feel even more powerful.

So while news of the hold might seem like cause for panic, I’d argue it could allow the writers to pivot the series in a more interesting direction. The Mandalorian has already given us a story about a battle-hardened warrior forming an ersatz father-son relationship with a baby. Tell us a new story, something we know nothing about.

The Mandalorian made waves for mixing standalone episodes in with its seasonal arc, but a show about Obi-Wan couldn’t get away with that. His character is too well-known, and has to be connected to the bigger events happening in the galaxy at large. Following Leia around rather than Luke would accomplish that in an interesting, original way. Your move Disney.

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