Last Monday, the cast for Obi-Wan Kenobi was officially announced! The cast is headlined by Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen returning to the franchise, while Joel Edgerton and Bonnie Piesse are reprising their roles as Owen and Beru Lars as well. But in addition to those four, eight newcomers to the franchise were also announced with the cast, including Moses Ingram.
Ingram, best known for her role on Queen’s Gambit, is the first cast-member listed behind McGregor and Christensen, which seems to suggest that she will have a significant role in the series. That was further confirmed when Variety reported that, “Individuals with knowledge of the project tell Variety that Ingram will play a major role in the series.” We don’t know anything about who she is playing – but she did have an interesting caption on her Instagram post about the news:
In her caption, as you can see, Ingram says, “I play with lightsabers.” Now, before going any further, let’s just say this: it’s entirely possible that this is nothing. We shouldn’t make too much out of a post like this. However, since she explicitly mentioned lightsabers, and since we don’t know anything about her character, let’s speculate responsibly.
At this point – ten years after Revenge of the Sith – there are very few people in the galaxy who wield a lightsaber. Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader are two of them, and both of them will appear in this show. But outside of them, there aren’t many. So it’s possible that we’ll see flashbacks showing others, but one wouldn’t think that to be a major role. More likely is that she’s playing someone in the ‘present’ time period, and if that’s the case, and she really does wield lightsabers, there seems to be an overwhelmingly clear role: an Inquisitor.
The Inquisitors were a group of lightsaber-wielders who were commissioned very shortly after ROTS and under the command of Darth Vader and the Grand Inquisitor, sent to hunt down Jedi. We have seen them have major roles in Rebels and Fallen Order, as well as Charles Soule’s Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith comic series. They are sent out in the galaxy to hunt down any remaining Jedi and investigate any potential reports of Jedi activity too, as Vader cannot and does not spend time following every lead. So, as this series seems to be leading to another confrontation between Kenobi and Vader, it would make perfect sense if an Inquisitor is to have a key role in the lead-up to it.
This seems even more plausible when considering director Deborah Chow’s comments in a video screened to Disney investors in December, in which she reportedly said, “This is quite a dark time that we’re coming into with him, just being a Jedi – it’s not safe. There’s Jedi hunters out there.” Jedi hunters, plural, which seems to be a hint toward the Inquisitors.
So if I had to venture a guess at this point – and it’s just that, a guess – it would be that Moses Ingram may be playing an Inquisitor in Obi-Wan Kenobi. Fans will immediately begin speculating whether this could be someone we know (like Barriss Offee), but more likely is that it’s a new character. Regardless, it would be awesome if we actually did get to see Inquisitors in live-action for the first time!
Star Wars Thoughts 