Obi-Wan Kenobi on Disney Plus: release date, cast, plot and more

It’s official: Obi-Wan Kenobi’s standalone TV adventure has a release date. 

Yes, after months of waiting for more news on the Disney Plus series, we know that it’ll land on the streaming service in May 2022. That means that the Star Wars show, which stars Ewan McGregor as the titular character once more, will arrive before The Bad Batch season 2 and Cassian Andor Rogue One prequel series.

The confirmed release date was accompanied by a lovely looking poster, too, but there’s still no word on when an official trailer will arrive. Hopefully, it won’t be a long wait to see the first official footage for Obi-Wan Kenobi on Disney Plus. Especially now that the six-part series is only three months away from release.

If you’re after more news on Obi-Wan’s upcoming solo adventure, you’ve come to the right place. Below, you’ll find everything you need to know about Obi-Wan Kenobi on Disney Plus, including its all-star cast, potential plot, and more. Spoilers follow for Star Wars Episodes I through to IX, as well as some Star Wars comics.

Obi-Wan Kenobi release date

Obi-Wan Kenobi release date: May 25, 2022

Obi-Wan Kenobi will backflip his way onto Disney Plus on May 25, 2022.

Surprisingly, that’s three weeks after Star Wars Day, the annual celebration of all things relating to Lucasfilm’s legendary sci-fi franchise, on May 4. But, with Marvel Studios’ Moon Knight still airing on the streamer on the date, it makes sense that Disney and Lucasfilm wouldn’t want the two shows to compete for viewers’ attention.

Fittingly, Obi-Wan Kenobi’s TV series will arrive exactly 45 years on from the original release of Star Wars Episode IV. A New Hope was the first time that anyone saw the iconic Jedi knight on-screen, so the show’s debut on Disney Plus will be a wonderful tribute to Alec Guinness’ first appearance as Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan Kenobi trailer

Obi-Wan Kenobi trailer: is there one?

There’s no official trailer for the Obi-Wan Kenobi series yet. But, given that its release date has been revealed, we’re hopeful that a trailer will be on the way very soon.

The closest thing we have is a behind-the-scenes sneak peek (only available to Disney Plus subscribers), which was release on Disney Plus Day in November 2021. This featured a mix of concept art, and talking head footage with Ewan McGregor and director Deborah Chow.

“This is quite a dark time that we’re coming into with [Obi-Wan],” explains Chow. “Just being a Jedi, it’s not safe. There’s Jedi hunters out there.”

“At least he has this one task left which is to keep Luke safe,” continues McGregor, before Chow adds: “That’s definitely a starting place for our story. The interesting thing is going to be where it goes from there.”

They also tease the much vaunted return of McGregor’s prequels Star Wars co-star Hayden Christensen as Darth Vader, his former apprentice. 

“We couldn’t tell the story of Obi-Wan Kenobi without addressing Anakin or Vader,” says Chow. “We get to have another swing at each other,” adds McGregor. “It might be quite satisfying for everybody.”

The concept art from the Disney Plus tease isn’t available for non-subscribers yet, but some of the images can be viewed in this tweet:

The images provide plenty of talking points. The first shows Obi-Wan Kenobi facing off against Darth Vader in some fiery location – could they be having a rematch at Mustafar, site of their fateful battle in Revenge of the Sith? 

The next shows Obi-Wan on the back of an eopie somewhere on Tatooine. He was riding one of these desert-based beasts when he left Luke Skywalker at the end of Episode III. Meanwhile, the third shows Stormtroopers at some vast (presumably Imperial) base. 

And the fourth is the most intriguing of all. Not because of the Stormtroopers, but because of the person with them. Could this be one of the Inquisitors? These Dark Side Force-wielders (one of whom was voiced by Buffy’s Sarah Michelle Gellar in Star Wars Rebels) helped Vader hunt down the remaining Jedi after the Order 66 purge. 

The Inquisitors have already featured in Rebels (which takes place around five years after Obi-Wan Kenobi) and other canonical stories. It would be logical, then, for them to crop up here, especially if Obi-Wan is the Inquisitors’ biggest target.

Other images feature Vader in his shrine on Mustafar, some vehicles that look rather like the Snowspeeders from The Empire Strikes Back, and some new landscapes – one of which looks rather like something out of Blade Runner. Could this urban setting mean a return to Coruscant for Obi-Wan? Seeing as it’s the seat of Imperial government, it would be a risky move for Kenobi, but if needs must…

Obi-Wan Kenobi story

Obi-Wan Kenobi plot: what’s it about?

According to StarWars.com, Obi-Wan Kenobi is set 10 years after Revenge of the Sith, and therefore nine years before A New Hope – around the same time as the events of Solo: A Star Wars Story play out.

At the end of Episode III, Obi-Wan defeated Anakin Skywalker in battle and left him to burn on the planet of Mustafar. Anakin’s body was retrieved by Emperor Palpatine, and he was transformed into Darth Vader, beginning his reign of terror over the galaxy. 

Obi-Wan, meanwhile, worked with with Yoda and Senator Bail Organa to hide Anakin and Padmé’s children – i.e. Luke and Leia Skywalker. He took Luke to the latter’s Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru on Tatooine, and began his new life on the desert planet as a Jedi in exile.  As far as we know, then, Obi-Wan has been hiding out on Tatooine for the last decade, watching over Luke and trying to come to terms with his failure as a mentor to Anakin.

Deborah Chow confirmed in the Disney Plus Day video that the starting point will be Obi-Wan carrying out his lonely assignment to protect Luke. It seems that from there, though, he’ll soon be pulled into an adventure that takes him to other places throughout the galaxy.

While the specifics of the Obi-Wan Kenobi story remain as cloudy as a rookie Padawan’s visions of the future, canonical Star Wars stories do reveal some of the veteran Jedi’s activities during his post-Revenge of the Sith decade of exile on Tatooine.

In the ‘From the Journals of Obi-Wan Kenobi’ comics, Luke discovers his old master’s diaries, which detail what Old Ben got up to. We know he was frustrated at having to keep his Jedi status secret (using a lightsaber would instantly give away his identity) and his inability to train young Luke in the ways of the Force. Indeed, the boy’s Uncle Owen demanded that Kenobi keep his distance. Nonetheless, Obi-Wan does his best to protect the family – including saving Owen from a run-in with Black Krrsantan. Given the Wookiee bounty hunter’s appearance in The Book of Boba Fett, could we see this particular fight play out in Obi-Wan’s TV show?

The big news about the story, however, is that the Jedi will once again meet his fallen apprentice Anakin Skywalker, aka Darth Vader. Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy has described the encounter as “the rematch of the century” (per WeGotThisCovered) which goes without saying – but there are plenty of questions about how it comes to pass.

When Obi-Wan left Anakin mutilated and burning on the volcanic surface of Mustafar, he must have assumed his former BFF was dead. So we’re guessing the fact that Skywalker Sr. is alive is going to become as a big shock. It could well be the revelation that forces Kenobi out of exile, especially if an Inquisitor comes knocking. Remember, there’s no way Kenobi would risk the Empire or the Sith coming anywhere near Luke, the potential savior of the galaxy.

Then there’s the flipside of the coin: if Vader realizes that Kenobi is alive, tracking him down and eliminating the man who left him for dead is bound to become an obsession – revenge is part of the Sith playbook, after all.

Living on Tatooine offers Kenobi a degree of protection – while it’s his home planet, we know Vader will be reluctant to return to the place his mother died – but never underestimate the power of the Dark Side. After the destruction of the first Death Star, some nine years after the events of the Obi-Wan Kenobi TV show in canon, we know that Vader traveled to Jabba’s palace to recruit a bounty hunter to track down a certain Force-sensitive pilot. In other words, Vader avoiding Tatooine isn’t a hard and fast rule…

Vader and Kenobi’s eagerly anticipated rematch doesn’t have to violate canon, either. While we’d assumed their previous meeting had been that fateful encounter on Mustafar, the timeline is ambiguous. In A New Hope, Vader describes Kenobi as “a presence I’ve not felt since…” That “since” could mean any time in the previous two decades.

Regardless of how its story plays out, McGregor is clearly delighted to be back alongside Hayden Christensen, who’ll play Vader in the TV show. Speaking to Forbes, McGregor said he hoped to do justice to Obi-Wan once more, especially for the young audience that grew up watching the maligned (not in their eyes, mind you) prequel trilogy.

“It’s quite interesting, after the experience of making the first three films and living through sort of their reception in the world, which wasn’t always glowing, I have to say,” McGregor mused. “And then now, meeting the generation who we made those films for, the children then – and now, people in their late teens or early 20s, those people who were kids who we made those films for, they loved them. To them, they’re their Star Wars films, you know?

“For us, it was the original films of the ‘70s, but for them, it was our films were their Star Wars. So to step back into his shoes again now and do a series, a whole series about Obi-Wan Kenobi for those fans, it just makes me really happy.”

Obi-Wan Kenobi cast

Obi-Wan Kenobi cast: who is playing who?

Ewan McGregor will reprise his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi for the first time since 2005’s Revenge of the Sith (though he had brief voice cameos in The Force Awakens and The Rise of Skywalker). As confirmed at Disney’s Investor Day in December 2020, Hayden Christensen will be joining him as Darth Vader.

In April 2021, the full cast for the show was revealed. We expect Joel Edgerton and Bonnie Piesse to reprise their Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith roles as Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru Lars – the couple who raised Luke. (Owen is the son of Cliegg Lars, the Tatooine moisture farmer who marries Anakin’s mom, Shmi, in Attack of the Clones.)

Other confirmed cast members include Kumail Nanjiani (The Big Sick, Eternals), Indira Varma (Game of Thrones), Rupert Friend (Homeland), O’Shea Jackson Jr (Straight Outta Compton), Sung Kang (who plays the the aptly named Han Seoul-Oh in the Fast and Furious series), Simone Kessell (The Crossing), and Benny Safdie (Good Time). There’s no word on who they’ll play, though.

Another as-yet-unknown character will be played by PEN15 and Scoob! actor Maya Erskine. Deadline say Erskine will have a supporting role for at least three episodes, so Erskine’s character may have a prominent role in proceedings.

Venturing into the realms of speculation, there’s a good chance some familiar Star Wars characters might enter Obi-Wan’s orbit. 

The biggest name who may be in line for a return is Luke Skywalker. Luke would be around 10 years old at the time the TV show is set, and it would be weird if he wasn’t part of the mix. After all, Luke already knows “Old Ben” at the start of A New Hope, and the whole reason for Kenobi’s extended stay in Tatooine’s Jundland Wastes was keeping an eye on him. Also, if Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru cross paths with Kenobi, chances are Luke isn’t far away.

When asked if he was doing screen tests with young actors vying to play Luke, McGregor said “that’s very possible“, before following up with a non-committal “I don’t know”.

At this point in the timeline, Yoda is alive on Dagobah. As far as they know, Yoda and Obi-Wan are the only two Jedi who survived the Emperor’s Order 66 purge, so they may use the Force to make contact with each other. That could mean Frank Oz returning to a voice role he first played in The Empire Strikes Back in 1980 – and most recently reprised in The Rise of Skywalker.

Wherever Darth Vader goes, Emperor Palpatine is usually pulling the strings, so we may see (or hear) more from the wonderful Ian McDiarmid. 

Darth Maul (Ray Park) is still at large in the era that the TV show takes place. Solo: A Star Wars Story, set around the same time, revealed that Palpatine’s former apprentice had taken control of the Crimson Dawn crime syndicate – so don’t be surprised if he comes looking for the man who sliced him in two in The Phantom Menace. Throughout Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Maul was obsessed with having his revenge on Kenobi, and they ended up facing each other for a final time in Star Wars Rebels, set around five years after the Obi-Wan show.

There could also be a way back for Obi-Wan’s old Master, Qui-Gon Jinn, even though he was killed by Maul in The Phantom Menace. 

At the end of Revenge of the Sith, Yoda told Obi-Wan that he’d been communing with Qui-Gon, who’d discovered a way to retain his consciousness after death.

It seems unlikely that a franchise as fond of callbacks as Star Wars would miss the opportunity to pick up this particular plot thread. The question is, will Liam Neeson reprise the role? It wouldn’t be the first time – he voiced Qui-Gon in episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels – but the actor denied he was going to appear in an interview with Jimmy Kimmel in June 2021 (via Entertainment Weekly).

“I heard Ewan McGregor was gonna do a series,” said Neeson when Kimmel asked about his involvement. “No, I don’t think so. No, I haven’t been approached. [Disney] don’t have enough money!”

Of course, Neeson wouldn’t be the first star of a major franchise to be economical with the truth regarding their involvement in an upcoming project – and besides, Disney are hardly short of cash. In other words, don’t be surprised if Neeson dons the Jedi robes once again.

Obi-Wan Kenobi: what we want to see

What we want from Obi-Wan Kenobi on Disney Plus

The Star Wars prequels remain contentious more than 15 years after George Lucas wrapped the movies up. Some of the commentary on the films from younger viewers suggests there’s a generational divide on opinion around the prequels, probably helped by the well-received animated series The Clone Wars.

For us, though, they never truly lived up to the promise of telling Darth Vader’s true origin story, or making the Clone Wars seem all that interesting.

Still, this series is an opportunity to build on the latent potential of the prequel setting – and to add extra dimensions to the relationship between Anakin and Obi-Wan. Salvaging the reputation of the films is probably too big an ask from this show, but continuing the story and finding something new to say about the characters is appealing. And whatever you think of the end result, McGregor was a consistent highlight of the three movies. 

If nothing else, the lightsaber battle on Mustafar was the most visually spectacular part of Episode III – if this truly is the rematch of the century, as Lucasfilm has been teasing, will we see the Obi-Wan Kenobi series try and top that? Let’s hope so.

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