Star Wars Rebels Villain Rumored To Return In Obi-Wan Kenobi Disney+ Series

By Savannah Sanders Posted:
Obi-Wan Kenobi Star Wars Rebels

Following the success of The Mandalorian on Disney+, Lucasfilm is currently at work producing not only Mando's third season, but also The Book of Boba Fett, Rogue One prequel Andor, and the long-awaited Obi-Wan Kenobi series.

Officially announced in 2019, Obi-Wan Kenobi is a limited series set ten years after Revenge of the Sith and directed by Mandalorian director Deborah Chow.

While much of the series' storyline is unknown, fans do know that Kenobi retreated to Tatooine to watch over young Luke Skywalker after Order 66 and Anakin's fall to the Dark Side.

New information about the show seems to indicate that the Jedi Master wasn't completely isolated during those years, nor was he without a few adventures leading up to the events of Star Wars: A New Hope

STAR WARS REBELS CHARACTER TO APPEAR IN OBI-WAN KENOBI

According to a report from Cinelinx, Obi-Wan Kenobi won't just include a young Princess Leia but also "a few characters who initially appeared in Star Wars: Rebels," a Lucasfilm animated series set before the events of Rogue One that ran from 2014 to 2018.

Since the Kenobi series is set around a decade before the events of Rebels, it's possible that those animated characters could appear alongside Ewan McGregor's live-action Kenobi. 

Although, if they do, they won't be the only characters joining the Jedi. While Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith actors Hayden Christensen and Joel Edgerton are set to reprise their roles as Darth Vader and Uncle Owen, respectively, the show is set to include a few newcomers as well, such as Moses Ingram and Sung Kang in unknown roles.

sung-kang
Sung Kang in F9

Sung Kang has already teased the presence of both "Darth Vader" and "Jedis" on the set of the show while offering little to nothing about his own character.

That said, this new report also claims that the F9 star could be playing an Inquisitor tasked with hunting down surviving Jedi, and even claims that sources expressed confidence in Kang playing the Fifth Brother — an Inquisitor last seen in Star Wars: Rebels.

Star Wars Rebels Fifth Brother
Star Wars Rebels

This isn't the first fans have heard of these Jedi hunters being connected to the new Disney+ series as an earlier report claimed Inquisitors would appear in some capacity.

LIVE-ACTION AND ANIMATION ARE INTERCHANGEABLE AT LUCASFILM

Season 2 of The Mandalorian on Disney+ broke the mold in bringing animated characters to live-action with Bo-Katan Kryze and Ahsoka Tano. Lucasfilm then did the reverse in introducing Ming-Na Wen's Fennec Shand in live-action before having her appear in animated form for the studio's current series The Bad Batch

This falls in line with the Kenobi series using Inquisitors as they were first introduced in animated form in Star Wars Rebels.

Due to the success and quality of Lucasfilm's animated series, it appears the studio, along with Lucasfilm executive and Rebels creator Dave Filoni, is intent on using both formats to not only tell new Star Wars stories but to set up future stories as well. 

A sequel to Star Wars: Rebels or at least cameos from its cast has long been rumored. The Bad Batch delivered on the latter by showing the origins of both Jedi Padawan Kanan Jarrus and Rebel pilot Hera Syndulla

Considering The Bad Batch's current timeline also falls in line with Obi-Wan Kenobi, and that Kenobi actually appeared in an episode of the animated series, these two plot points could be laying the foundation for the Rebels characters to make their live-action debut alongside Kenobi and beyond. 

Obi-Wan Kenobi is currently without a release date, but is expected to air on Disney+ sometime in 2022.

- About The Author: Savannah Sanders
Savannah Sanders joined The Direct as a writer in 2020. In addition to writing for The Direct's Star Wars, Marvel, and DC teams, Savannah specializes in the relationship between Disney's blockbuster franchises and the Disney Parks.