The latest fan-favorite character to get the Disney+ series treatment is Obi-Wan Kenobi from the Star Wars franchise. And even though there’s not too much known about the new series, Ewan McGregor is subtly confirming that the show will address a major sequel trilogy criticism.
The Star Wars franchise has been around for quite some time and as technology advanced, so did the movies. However, in the recent sequel trilogy, the movies faced major criticism. Fans were not happy with the lack of technical elegance of the sequel series' lightsaber battles, as it seemed like there wasn't much thought or effort put into them. Thankfully, that doesn’t look to be the case for the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series on Disney+. Obi-Wan himself, Ewan McGregor, told The Hollywood Reporter that he’s been training hard for his 2022 series:
For months, we've been doing these monster, two-and-a-half-hour sessions of sword fights and hand-to-hand stuff.
Following the release of 2019’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the film received major criticism for multiple aspects, a trend that plagued the rest of the trilogy. While the films aren’t perfect, as pointed out by J.J. Abrams, the new Obi-Wan series, along with The Mandalorian, are the perfect opportunities to cater to fans of the series and make up some serious ground. A sentiment that McGregor himself acknowledges:
[It] was hard they didn't get well received. That was quite difficult. They were universally not very much liked
Even though the films haven’t received much love, Disney+ seems to be doing something right. The Mandalorian has been seeing great success with the first two seasons and if the new Obi-Wan series is anything like it, especially with all of the training Ewan McGregor has been doing, fans won’t be disappointed.
Ewan McGregor has been portraying Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi since 1999’s Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace, taking over the role from the late Alec Guinness. The Obi-Wan Kenobi series will be take place between the end of the prequel and the start of the original trilogy. The events of the show reportedly occur 10 years after the events of Revenge of the Sith and include Hayden Christensen returning as Darth Vader. Obi-Wan Kenobi will consist of six one-hour episodes and is currently scheduled to release in 2022.
With all of the criticism the sequel trilogy has received and with how well The Mandalorian has been doing, it seems like Obi-Wan Kenobi will follow a recipe similar to its fellow Disney+ series. It’s also nice knowing that Ewan McGregor is doing a ton of training for the series, which means fans will be able to look forward to some epic lightsaber battles next year!
