Amid the slew of Star Wars-related announcements during the Mouse House's Investor's Day event, fans finally received the news they've been waiting for. Lucasfilm's president Kathleen Kennedy confirmed the Disney+ Obi-Wan Kenobi series starring Ewan McGregor is a go!
This six-episode series is set to begin filming in 2021, picking up ten years after the events of Revenge of the Sith. But Kathleen Kennedy had even more news to share.
During the announcement, she also confirmed the series will bring back Hayden Christensen as Darth Vader and even teased a Kenobi vs. Vader fight as the "rematch of the century." While that's more than enough to get fans excited, we're now learning that Vader won't be the only threat Obi-Wan Kenobi will face in this upcoming series.
NEWS
According to Kessel Run Transmissions, the Obi-Wan Kenobi Disney+series will feature additional villains aside from Darth Vader. Kessel Run Transmission's Corey Van Dyke and Noah Outlaw described the series' villains aside from Darth Vader as "henchmen almost" and "a team of Jedi hunters that are looking for Obi-Wan."
Van Dyke continued saying,
"It's actually a group of Clone Troopers. ...Specialized Clones that are hunting Obi-Wan with Vader. We don't know if this is where Cody comes in, or if Cody's from the flashbacks, or if he's hunting them with these Clone troopers. But it is going to be a Clone squad after Obi-Wan."
Obi-Wan Kenobi director Deborah Chow teased the concept of Jedi hunters herself, but the fact these characters could be Clone Troopers definitely makes sense in a number of ways.
According to Outlaw and Van Dyke, these Clone Troopers could possibly be the Bad Batch, whose own series was officially announced by Kennedy during the Investor's Event. Outlaw added to that news saying, "They kind of line up with the look that we've maybe heard of."
WHAT THIS MEANS
It's no secret that the Obi-Wan Kenobi series was going to be an emotional one. After all, its focus was on Obi-Wan living alone after losing Anakin to the Dark Side and dealing with the fallout of the end of the Jedi Order and the Republic.
Bringing back Anakin as Vader, and especially having them cross sabers once again, was only going to up the emotional intensity; but having Clone Troopers, and possibly Commander Cody, as Jedi Hunters is a whole other level of heartbreak and adds further possibilities for storytelling.
The Clone Wars animated series humanized the Clone Troopers and magnified their relationship with the Jedi, making Order 66 all the more devastating. Continuing that story of friends and comrades turned enemies will further explore that turn of the tables. The decision to include Clone Troopers in Obi-Wan Kenobi would also complement the content Lucasfilm has already produced and has coming down the pipeline.
If this particular Clone squad is the Bad Batch, their new series set to release in 2021 could serve as a prequel to the Obi-Wan Kenobi series. It would also mean we would see the Bad Batch troopers in live-action, like we've now seen animated characters Bo-Katan Kryze and Ahsoka Tano appear in live-action in Season 2 of The Mandalorian.
Fans knew an Obi-Wan series would have a lot to offer, but perhaps no one anticipated just how much; of all the announced Star Wars projects Lucasfilm has in store, the Obi-Wan Kenobi series is quickly becoming one of the most anticipated.
