With The Book of Boba Fett now in the rearview mirror, it's officially Obi-Wan Kenobi season. Lucasfilm and Disney officially unveiled the teaser poster for the highly-anticipated series, which coincided with the announcement that it would debut on May 25 - exactly 45 years to the day that fans first met the Jedi Master.
In the coming months, there will be trailers, interviews, and posters aplenty to feed the hunger for the show's release.
Plot details are still under lock and key, but the general gist of the series seems to be apparent. Alongside Ewan McGregor will be returning Star Wars alum Hayden Christensen, set to reprise his role as Darth Vader. A recent rumor indicated that two other performers would help bring the Sith Lord to life, with Christensen taking on the sequences behind the mask and anything that may involve Anakin Skywalker.
There are indicators of what the fallen Jedi's role might entail, and Lucasfilm certainly has shied away from emphasizing his presence. Kathleen Kennedy hyped up the coming conflict between Kenobi and his former Padawan as "the rematch of the century," and small leaks suggest that the battle will be as intense as advertised. The duel will transpire in a location away from Tatooine, the likely culmination of Obi-Wan's big adventure.
Kenobi has as close a bond as anyone to the Skywalker family. Anakin's fall shook him to the core, but in true selfless fashion, the Jedi Master went into exile to watch over his old friend's son. Darth Vader will naturally play a large in Kenobi's titular series, as a new rumor suggests, and there are even hints of how Luke and Leia will factor into the show's events.
Skywalker Family Featured Prominently in Obi-Wan Kenobi
Making Star Wars reported that members of the Skywalker family will be involved in each episode of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa, specifically, are rumored to be involved in the first two chapters of the story, in addition to the Inquisitors.
Come the third episode, Darth Vader will join the fray, and he'll be involved for the remainder of the series. Serving as the main antagonist for the series, MSW compared Vader's role here to his time in Rogue One, but "angrier." Whereas Vader demonstrated his power by merely toying with Luke in The Empire Strikes Back, the Sith Lord is said to "out for blood" in Kenobi, leading to a major confrontation with Obi-Wan.
And He Was A Good Friend
If there's a version of Darth Vader even angrier than the one seen on the war-path at the end of Rogue One, it sounds like Star Wars fans are about it.
By the time the original trilogy comes along, Vader is quite calm and collected; even the punishments he dishes out to inept Imperial Officers are done so in a cold, laid-back manner. He puts the power of the Dark Side on full display briefly at the end of his duel with Luke in Empire, but his wrath fades quickly after disarming his son.
The best guess for how Vader will be presented in Obi-Wan Kenobi is something akin to his anger and aggression seen on Mustafar leading up to and during his fateful fuel with his old master. While interactions with underlings will likely be par for the course, the mere presence of Obi-Wan in the Force will be enough to get Vader's simmering rage to a boiling point - and the sight of him will unleash a monster.
Everything seems to advance naturally in the story as presented by the rumor; it makes sense that things would start out small before Obi-Wan is launched into a galactic adventure. In all likelihood, the first episode will be dedicated to getting into the Jedi Master's head, establishing the regrets he has over what happened to Anakin while he does something to protect Luke.
The second episode will likely be when Kenobi is drawn off-world, setting out to rescue a young Leia whose found herself in trouble. Leia seems to know more of Obi-Wan than just stories in A New Hope, so an encounter between the two would seem likely. This could also be when Obi-Wan encounters the Inquisitors and takes them down swiftly, which leads directly into Vader getting involved and going on the hunt personally.
Inevitably, both Vader and Obi-Wan will end up surviving the big encounter. By the end of the series, Kenobi will come to accept that his old friend truly is gone, leading to his mindset in the original films that casts doubt on any humanity remaining in the man who was once Anakin.
Fortunately for the galaxy, Luke Skywalker maintained his belief in his father, and potential through line that the show might follow to further tie the story of these characters together.
Obi-Wan Kenobi debuts on May 25 on Disney+.
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