It’s a good time to be Ewan McGregor. Not only did the Star Wars veteran recently welcome a son, Laurie, with girlfriend Mary Elizabeth Winstead, he also won his first Primetime Emmy Award last Sunday. While celebrating his win backstage, Ewan McGregor also took the time to update fans on the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi television series - a project that has been shrouded in secrecy since it was announced in 2019.
At the 73rd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards this past Sunday, Ewan McGregor won his first Emmy for his performance as fashion designer Halston in the eponymous Netflix miniseries. While giving his backstage follow-up interview, Deadline reported that Ewan McGregor officially confirmed where things currently stand with Disney+'s Obi-Wan Kenobi. He said:
We finished shooting our series, and it was really, really good fun. I really enjoyed working with [director/executive producer] Deborah Chow, and I think it will not disappoint. The new technology that we employed doing it is cool, and it was a different experience than making the original three films that I did.
Considering that Ewan McGregor knows a thing or two about Star Wars, it’s probably safe to trust his assessment. In addition to the approval of Obi-Wan himself, the series sounds like it has the odds in its favor. Director and executive producer Deborah Chow is an old pro, having directed several episodes of the wildly popular Disney+ show The Mandalorian. She’s helming all six episodes of Kenobi, so fans should expect one unique creative vision throughout the series.
Obi-Wan Kenobi will also take advantage of the Volume, a technological advance that wasn’t available at the time the prequel trilogy was filmed (that far off, distant late '90s and early 2000s). Originally created for The Mandalorian, the Volume is a virtual filming stage that can replicate any background with near-perfect authenticity. In addition, it avoids common green-screen glitches by closely following camera movement.
While the visual effects in Obi-Wan are extremely modern, the series is actually a prequel of sorts. The main action of the show will take place in between Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and Episode IV: A New Hope, bridging the gap between the prequel and original trilogies. Plot details are limited, but Hayden Christiansen will be reprising his role as Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, so there’s sure to be plenty of drama to keep viewers glued to their screens.
Obi-Wan Kenobi doesn’t have a concrete release date yet, but Disney is aiming for a 2022 release. Other returning cast members include Joel Edgerton as Uncle Owen and Bonnie Piesse as Aunt Beru, Luke’s adoptive family. And new faces are joining the fray in the form of Kumail Nanjiani (Eternals), Moses Ingram (The Queen’s Gambit), O’Shea Jackson Jr. (Straight Outta Compton) and Sung Kang (F9). The first footage for the show can't come soon enough!
