The floodgates have opened on Obi-Wan Kenobi, the next Star Wars television series coming to Disney+. Featuring Ewan McGregor returning to the titular role he played in the prequel films and Hayden Christensen once again donning the Darth Vader suit, Obi-Wan Kenobi is a prequel kid’s dream come true. If only they’d found a way to keep Darth Maul in there.
Since the first trailer for the series was unveiled during Disney Investor’s Day earlier this month, we’ve been getting regular snippets of new information. This time, Disney+ has posted the official synopsis for the series. It’s short, sweet, and leaves plenty of room for speculation:
"During the reign of the Galactic Empire, former Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi embarks on a crucial mission. Kenobi must confront allies turned enemies and face the wrath of the Empire."
Obi-Wan will face former allies in the limited series
Since it’s only a couple sentences, the synopsis obviously doesn’t tell us much…but there is one notable thing about it: “allies turned enemies” implies multiple betrayals for Obi-Wan. The limited series is set around halfway between the end of Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and the beginning of Episode IV: A New Hope, which means the Empire is at the height of its power and Darth Vader is reaving a path of terror across the stars. It has long been teased that the show will feature the “rematch of the century” between Obi-Wan and his former padawan Anakin Skywalker.
Beyond that, we can only speculate. One theory I’ve seen floating around is that Temeura Morrison might reprise his role as any number of Clone Troopers, which would fit the “allies turned enemies” bit since Obi-Wan worked closely alongside many of them during the Clone Wars.
Then there’s the Grand Inquisitor, played by Rupert Friend. He’s a pretty iconic villain from the Star Wars Rebels animated series, and featured prominently in the trailer for Obi-Wan Kenobi. But before he rose to the vaunted rank of Grand Inquisitor (aka lead Jedi hunter) under Darth Vader, that character once served as a Jedi temple guard. He never crossed paths with Obi-Wan in Rebels, so we don’t know if the two have any history. It’s entirely possible they once knew each other back before Order 66 was executed, when Obi-Wan frequented the temple on Coruscant.
Really, there are any number of contenders here. Obi-Wan has a long list of enemies at this particular point in the Star Wars canon.
Patty Jenkins has been in contact with author who created Rogue Squadron
The other bit of Star Wars news drifting into our galaxy today is about the upcoming Rogue Squadron movie, which is being helmed by Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins. Rogue Squadron was one of the many Star Wars films with high-profile directors to have been announced over the past few years, and while some of those projects have in turn been cancelled, this one looks to have stuck around.
A fan tweeted from GalaxyCon over the weekend, relaying some interesting details shared by Michael Stackpole, the author who created the Rogue Squadron group of X-Wing pilots in the Star Wars Expanded Universe novels. Apparently, Stackpole is really excited that the Rogue Squadron is coming to the big screen, and let slip that Patty Jenkins had been in touch with him early in the process of making the movie. It’s always nice to see that kind of creative crossover, and that Jenkins is making an effort to due justice to the spirit of the Rogue Squadron books that so many people love.
Of course, we still know relatively little about the movie. Rogue Squadron has a December 2023 release date, and Disney is still sticking to that date despite the fact that the movie isn’t in pre-production yet.
Obi-Wan Kenobi premieres May 25 on Disney+. As of this writing, Rogue Squadron is scheduled to hit theaters on December 22, 2023.
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h/t Syfy Wire