Lots of buzz has been going around (and rightfully so) for the newest Star Wars live-action series, Obi-Wan Kenobi. After decades of questions about the largest time gap in the Star Wars lore, we will finally get a look at Obi-Wan Kenobi’s life on Tatooine—years before the events of 1977’s Episode IV: A New Hope. While fans are excited for the return of this legendary character and the famous actor (Ewan McGregor), who basically defined the role, it should be noted that we will most likely see this popular character in an extremely different light.
Ewan McGregor’s performance as a young Obi-Wan Kenobi has been defined by the range in the character’s personality. Known for his level-headedness, sarcasm, wit, sage advice (most likely learned from his time as Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn’s Padawan), and exciting fighting style, the most recent trailer shows us a side of Obi-Wan that we haven’t seen (at least to this extent)—defeat.
It’s no surprise that he feels defeated, either. Not only did the entire Jedi Order get decimated within moments during Order 66, but he lost his Padawan to Sith Lord Palpatine. The last time he saw Skywalker was during the insanely emotional battle the two had on the fiery grounds of Mustafar, which resulted in Skywalker’s hateful energy reaching its highest and led to the ascension of his current identity, Darth Vader.
Without a single moment to take a breath and grieve, Obi-Wan was tasked by Jedi Master Yoda to take Luke Skywalker, one of the two newly-born fraternal twins of Darth Vader (formerly Anakin Skywalker), and recently deceased Padmé Amidala, into hiding. Luke was taken to Tatooine under the care of Owen Lars (the stepbrother of Anakin Skywalker), and his wife, Beru Whitesun. Upon his arrival on Tatooine, Obi-Wan then began his life as the old hermit Ben Kenobi—an undercover alias he created to, not only keep a watchful eye on young Luke Skywalker, but remain undetected so he can continue to hide from The Inquisitors and Darth Vader.
It’s very unlikely that we will see Obi-Wan engaging in any form of lightsaber combat (or any combat at all) because of his dedication to his main priority—keeping Luke Skywalker hidden and safe.
Our time on Tatooine with the legendary Jedi in hiding starts on May 25, streaming exclusively on Disney+.
Stay up-to-date on the Star Wars content releasing this year.
Photos via Disney/Lucasfilm