Obi-Wan Kenobi is the Star Wars Story We’ve Always Needed

It was a cool Wednesday night on May 25, 1977 when the world was first introduced to a new legend. Jimmy Carter was president, and the radio was playing Sir Duke by Stevie Wonder as families drove to the local theaters around the U.S. to experience Star Wars A New Hope.

While many fell in love with the all too confusing relationship between Luke and Leia and marveled at the piloting of Han and Chewbacca, there was one other character that seemed to capture the imagination and help build out the world of Star Wars - Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Of course, back then, he was just Uncle Ben to a rather innocent Luke Skywalker, but the seed was planted. What started as a simple student-teacher moment between the late great Alec Guinness and Mark Hamill soon became a fascinating journey through Jedi lineage as Ewan McGregor took up the mantel in the prequels opposite Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn.

Thank the Force Disney read the fan tea leaves correctly and decided to expand on the legend of Obi-Wan by finally giving Ewan a second chance in the upcoming series to be released on Disney Plus on May 27, 2022, 45 years later.

Coincidently, Alec Guinness was around 62 when A New Hope was filmed, and Ewan will be close to 51 as the new series is released. It is like this was meant to be from the beginning!

What to Expect from this New Series

There will be lightsaber battles and Force manipulation that are sure to thrill the action sequence lovers in the audience, but we are equally interested in how this series will affect canon. Ever since Disney acquired Star Wars in late 2012, Star Wars fans have had to question what is part of the series and what is mythology.

This new series is directed by Deborah Chow, the same filmmaker who was a crucial player in charge of the popular Mandalorian series, which means we should see the all too well beloved gritty pseudo space western that has a mix of practical effects.

The story picks up 10 years after 2005’s Revenge of the Sith where Obi-Wan finds himself on Tatooine. Thanks to the official trailer for the series, we know we are going to be treated to the Inquisitors. We were exposed to the Inquisitors from Star Wars Rebels, the animated series and are pretty thrilled to see it back on the screen.

This will be a much darker film as those few remaining Jedi have gone underground to avoid detection and extermination by the Inquisitors, including our bearded hero Obi-Wan. He must avoid detection and throw the squad off the scent of young Luke Skywalker.

A Glimpse of Vader’s Past

There is a good chance this new series will see glimpses of Darth Vader’s red lightsaber as well as Obi-Wan’s blue. Rumors have flown all over the fan boards of new relevance to two key Vader quotes from A New Hope, including:

“I sense something. A presence I’ve not felt since . . .” 

and

“When I left you, I was but the learner. Now I am the master.”

It looks like some connective tissue will come from the 6 part streaming series. We encourage any of you fantastic diehards out there to seek out your friends who have a projector and watch this series on the big screen. The images from the trailer look part cinematic desert wonder and a touch of Japanese Ghost in the Shell anime from the shots of urban settings.

If you want a surefire way to celebrate the upcoming Obi-Wan series, check out our custom lightsabers in our online store. SabersPro has been creating exceptional lightsabers for dueling, collecting, cosplay, or just displaying while you pour a bowl of homemade popcorn and settle in for what promises to be a thrilling installment of Star Wars world-building.

Set your reminders now, everyone, May 27, 2022 - the return of Obi-Wan!