Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi is finally out, and the Force is with us. The first two episodes of the Disney+ limited series dropped last Friday, plunging viewers into the dark period of unrest when the Empire was nearing the height of its power, the heroes of A New Hope are still kids, and former Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi is trying to live his best life as a hermit in the deserts of Tatooine. While we’ve seen stories from all across the Star Wars timeline before, this feels like a particular niche that hasn’t been explored much. It will bridge the gap between where Ewan McGregor left off with the character of Obi-Wan in Revenge of the Sith and where Alec Guinness took over in A New Hope.
McGregor is back for the limited series, as are plenty of other familiar faces. Though we’ve only gotten one cryptic peek at him, we know we’ll be seeing more of Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader. Then there’s Joel Edgerton returning as Uncle Owen, Grant Feely playing a young Luke Skywalker, Jimmy Smits reprising his prequel role as Bail Organa, and on and on. The first two episodes also introduced us to a young Princess Leia (Vivien Lyra Blair), and even included a sneaky cameo by Temeura Morrison (Jango/Boba Fett) as an out-of-work clone trooper.
And apparently, that’s just the beginning.
Obi-Wan Kenobi boss promises more cameos ahead
Deborah Chow is the showrunner for Obi-Wan Kenobi, as well as the director of all six episodes. If there’s anyone who knows all the details about this show, it’s her. “I don’t think it would be Star Wars if we didn’t have some Easter eggs, and we didn’t have some cameos,” she told Rotten Tomatoes TV. “So there definitely are some to come. I think for us, what we do have in the show, it needed to come out of character for us. We didn’t want to just put things in for the sake of it.”
It’s good to hear Chow talk about justifying these cameos; it’s very easy to imagine a scenario where executives might want to cram them in for merchandising purposes or what have you. The more they serve the story and fill us in about the state of the galaxy, as Morrison’s did, the better.
Fortunately, Obi-Wan is the perfect vehicle to tie in different characters, since Obi-Wan himself has been all over the place during his long tenure as a Jedi. “Obi-Wan Kenobi is a character that has definitely interacted with a lot of people and has done a lot in his life,” Chow said.
What Star Wars characters will cameo in Obi-Wan Kenobi?
So who do we think we’ll see? The show has teased Obi-Wan’s connection to his former master Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) so much that it would be surprising if he didn’t turn up as a Force Ghost at some point.
Then there’s Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), who is absolutely around during this time. McDiarmid teased a possible appearance last month at ICCCon in Nashville. “There’s a certain show coming soon set right around the time I may have considered to be very active,” he said. “Whether or not you will see my physical body, I cannot comment on. But you will certainly feel my presence.”
From the mouth of the Emperor himself. There are a lot of possibilities for cameos in Obi-Wan Kenobi, and with four more episodes to go, we’re betting there’ll be plenty of them.
The third episode of Obi-Wan Kenobi premieres tomorrow!
To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.
Get HBO, Starz, Showtime and MORE for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels
h/t Uproxx, ComicBook.com