When Is Kenobi Coming to Disney Plus

Star Wars' Obi-Wan Kenobi TV series is on its way exclusively on Disney+ – and we simply can't wait to say, "Hello there!"

A spin-off project was rumoured for a while before being officially confirmed, first in the form of a movie, before being turned into a series.

After being officially announced at Disney's D23 event in August 2019, no one was happier to hear the news than the show's star Ewan McGregor, who found keeping the secret quite a struggle.

"It got difficult," McGregor said (via Flickering Myth). "I was brought up to tell the truth, and I was in a situation where I wasn't really allowed to. The studios and the big franchises want to keep everything very secret and as closed as it can be, and rightly so.

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"But at the same time there's this overwhelming amount of speculation online and on social media and what have you, and wherever I went for the last 10 years people would ask me, 'Would you do it again?' Once they started doing spin-offs of course everyone was like, 'Are you gonna do an Obi-Wan Kenobi spin-off?' and I was talking to Lucasfilm and Disney about that, but of course I couldn't say that I was.

"So I'd have to go, 'Well, you know, if they wanted to do one I'd be quite interested in doing it,' and it started to look a bit like I was just trying to get the part – which for a man of my standing was quite humiliating."

Now it's just a case of waiting for the episodes to drop. It's in safe hands though, with Deborah Chow, who previously worked on The Mandalorian, at the helm as director.

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"We really wanted to select a director who is able to explore both the quiet determination and rich mystique of Obi-Wan in a way that folds seamlessly into the Star Wars saga," Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy said in a release.

"Based on her phenomenal work developing our characters in The Mandalorian, I'm absolutely confident Deborah is the right director to tell this story."

The series has been written by Hossein Amini, who also penned Drive and Snow White and the Huntsman.

Here's everything you need to know.

Obi-Wan Kenobi air date: When will it air?

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Currently, an air date is yet to be confirmed. Filming for the series wrapped in September. and Disney+ has confirmed the episodes will be released in 2022.

Unfortunately, further information is yet to be revealed. Taking into account the need for extensive CGI and special effects to be put in during post-production, it seems like March and April is the earliest we're likely to see it.

Obi-Wan Kenobi cast: Who's in it?

Unsurprisingly, Obi-Wan Kenobi himself, Ewan McGregor, was the first to be confirmed for the project.

"I'm more excited about doing this one than I was doing the second and third one that we did before," McGregor told Empire. "I'm just excited about working with Deborah Chow, and the storylines are going to be really good I think. I'm just excited to play him again. It's been long enough since I played him before."

It's fair to say quite a lot has changed since his last Star Wars dalliance. As McGregor compared the new show to his work on The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith, he noted the advancement in technology has opened up a whole new world to creators.

"The first three [Star Wars films] I did were really at the very beginning of digital photography," he said. "We had a camera with an umbilical cord to a tent. It was like back to the beginning of movies where the camera didn't move very much because there was so much hardware attached to it.

"Now, we're going to be able to really create stuff without swathes of green-screen and blue-screen, which becomes very tedious for the actor."

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"I want to get closer and closer to how Obi-Wan felt while Alec Guinness was playing him," McGregor said. "I feel like I'm greyer and nearer him in age, so it'll be easier to do that."

On The One Show, McGregor echoed that, discussing how it'll be nice to "bridge that gap" between the two performances, adding: "It's really exciting."

Following the landmark confirmation, it's been confirmed, Hayden Christensen will also appear, returning to the franchise as Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader.

This came as a far bigger shock to fans, considering Christensen has been quiet about his participation in the prequel trilogy, which was the assumed full-circle moment to complete Anakin's transformation into the iconic villain.

But his inclusion offers some major information into what the show could be about.

"It was such an incredible journey playing Anakin Skywalker," Christensen said at the announcement. "Of course, Anakin and Obi-Wan weren't on the greatest of terms when we last saw them… It will be interesting to see what an amazing director like Deborah Chow has in store for us all. I'm excited to work with Ewan again. It feels good to be back."

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Other faces include McGregor's prequel trilogy co-star Bonnie Piesse (Aunt Beru), and Joel Edgerton aka Uncle Owen (Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith).

However, don't expect Uncle Owen to be a major part of the plot. As recently as the Green Knight press tour, Egerton was yet to shoot on set.

"I'm yet to go and participate in my section of that, so I can't comment," Edgerton told Cinemablend. "But I can say that the difference between standing in a real-life forest or shooting in a period castle, as an actor, I feel like my imagination, I want to preserve and reserve for performance and for relating to another actor."

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Still, at least Edgerton has some Star Wars history to fall back on. Fellow cast member, Game of Thrones' Indira Varma, is a little less versed in the franchise lore (via Metro).

"It's all new to me and really embarrassing. I keep getting called out on stuff, but I did play Princess Leia in the playground when I was six without having seen it – I had long plaits so I could do the hair.

"I've watched all the old ones now but I wouldn't say I'm up to speed. I'm still not sure what order they all go in."

That said, she seemed to enjoy filming.

"Obviously, I can't say anything about any of it, but director Deborah Chow, and Ewan on the acting side, have somehow made it feel like an independent movie. Everyone has input, there are no fraying tempers."

Eternals' Kumail Nanjiani has also confirmed his involvement.

"It was absolutely amazing," he told USA Today. "It was my first job outside of quarantine: I got vaccinated, went right to set and honestly had the best three months. And then I finally went to Disney World where I saw the Star Wars land and I was like, 'You know, it feels like I'm at work right now.'"

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Another cast member who has talked about filming the Obi-Wan Kenobi series is Straight Outta Compton star O'Shea Jackson Jr.

"I'm a real big Star Wars fan. I had auditioned for Lando for the Solo film, and when I didn't get it, it crushed me. I was like, 'You know what? I quit. I'm going back to being a writer. I'm done,'" he told Collider.

"I was filming Swagger, and my agents were like, 'Yo, we need you free in the next two days, noon.' I'm like, 'All right.' They're like, 'Just listen. You want to take this meeting.'"

"So I took it and it was Deb, Lord Deb. Shout out to Lord Deb. Deborah Chow. She gave me an opportunity of a lifetime and it's a... God, I can't wait to talk about it so bad. I want to talk about it so bad, but I know Mickey [Mouse] probably still has my phone bugged, and I just love my family."

Fast and Furious' Sung Kang, Maya Erskine (PEN15), Homeland's Rupert Friend, Terra Nova's Simone Kessell, Good Time's Benny Safdie, and The Queen's Gambit's Moses Ingram will also appear.

There's a chance the show will feature Jimmy Smits' Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan – he's another actor from the prequel trilogy who's appeared in Disney's Star Wars movies, thanks to his Rogue One cameo. But that's pure guesswork on our part.

Many fans hope Liam Neeson will return as mentor Qui-Gon Jinn as well, but this is unconfirmed. Chatting on Jimmy Kimmel Live, the actor said he hadn't been approached and joked that "they don't have enough money". So does this mean means he's actually coming back, Disney certainly has money to spare?

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In May 2021, McGregor teased a very special cameo will appear at some point as well.

"I got to play a very special scene on May 4," he said on Jimmy Kimmel Live. "With someone very special in my life and that's all I can tell you about it. But it was great fun."

He went on to say that he's never worked with that individual before and they're "not necessarily" related to him. Could that person be his partner, actor Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who has appeared in Birds of Prey, Gemini Man, and Scott Pilgrim vs. the world, to name just some of her work?

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Don't expect any Mandalorian crossover episodes, however – even if they will take place at some of the same locations. Why? Patience, Padawan, we're about to get to that…

Discussing his preparation to return to the character, McGregor did mention that The Mandalorian was part of his prep (via Newsweek).

"It'll just be there, I think. Also, I'm reminding myself by watching their new films and The Mandalorian and stuff, I really enjoyed. I keep myself as current as I can with the Lucasfilm world. I don't think it will take two minutes; I'll put the cloak back on and I'll be there, I think," he explained.

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Obi-Wan Kenobi timeline: When is it set?

Despite the fact McGregor has demonstrated the ability to keep a secret for several years, he's been the best source of information about the Disney+ series.

"The storyline sits between Episode III and Episode IV," McGregor told Men's Health.

That's why it can't cross over with The Mandalorian – as that show's set after Episode VI, A New Hope.

Obi-Wan Kenobi plot: What's it about?

The last time we saw him in the role, "the Jedi Order was falling apart. It will be interesting to take a character we know in a way and show him – well, his arc will be quite interesting, I think, dealing with the fact that all the Jedi were slaughtered with the end of Episode III. It's quite something to get over".

McGregor also confirmed the narrative would unfold over six episodes, which will each be roughly an hour long. He added that it was planned as a one-off limited series, so this may be the only time we see Obi Wan in action again.

But it's going to be action-packed, as Kathleen Kennedy hinted at "a rematch" between Vader and his former master, Obi Wan. For better or worse, get ready to relive the prequel era of Star Wars to its fullest.

But does this mean Vader's former apprentice, Ahsoka Tano, will appear too? Rumours suggest this could be a possibility now that Anakin is back in the picture.

Obi-Wan Kenobi trailer: When will it land?

While there's no official trailer yet, Disney+ released a first look featurette to celebrate Disney+ Day on November 12th 2021.

"There's a hunger for this character to come back," Ewan said in the clip. "The fans have been waiting long enough, you know!"

"Something that is extremely exciting is the return of Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi," director Deborah Chow added. "This is quite a dark time that we are coming into with him, just being a Jedi, it's not safe. There's Jedi hunters out there."

"He has this one task left, which is to keep Luke safe," continues McGregor, who unfortunately doesn't reveal anything more about the plot of the episodes.

"That's definitely a starting place for our story, the interesting thing is going to be where it goes from there," Chow says.

The featurette includes a look at the series' concept art, a clip of Obi-Wan handing over baby Luke to Beru on Tattooine from Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, and that distinctive Darth Vader breathing that confirms, of course, Hayden Christensen's return as Anakin/Vader. There is also a glimpse of Christensen having a little lightsaber training, and one of the concept art drawings seems to confirm that he'll battle Kenobi at some point in the series.

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"The most beautiful thing of all is that it's brought me back together with Hayden," McGregor says. "Having another swing at each other might be quite satisfying for everybody."

"We couldn't tell the story of Obi-Wan Kenobi without addressing Anakin or Vader," Chow says, without revealing any more.

Ewan McGregor ends the clip by saying: "We hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoy making it."

We will let you know as soon as the new trailer drops.

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When Is Kenobi Coming to Disney Plus

Source: https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/ustv/a30368470/obi-wan-kenobi-tv-air-date-cast-plot-trailer/

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