We officially have a date for what may be the most anticipated Star Wars project in a year full of them: Obi-Wan Kenobi will premiere on Disney+ on May 25, 2022!
That will be exactly 45 years to the day that Star Wars first premiered in 1977, introducing audiences to the ways of the Jedi and the Force through Kenobi. Alec Guinness played the wizened old Jedi Master who lived in the Tatooine desert, and the character has since become one of the most beloved characters in the entire saga. Kenobi reached new heights in the prequel trilogy, played by Ewan McGregor, and McGregor returns to the role to tell a story set in-between the prequels and A New Hope. The series is a limited original series, and rumors have suggested it will run six episodes (though we don’t have confirmation on that).
Star Wars also released the first poster for the series:
In addition to McGregor’s return to the franchise, Hayden Christensen is back as well; after starring as Anakin Skywalker in the prequels, Christensen returns to play Darth Vader (and maybe Anakin, too). Joel Edgerton also returns to the role of Owen Lars and Bonnie Piesse returns as Beru Lars, while Moses Ingram, Kumail Nanjiani, Indira Varma, Rupert Friend, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Sung Kang, Simone Kessell, and Benny Safdie are also part of the cast in currently undisclosed roles.
Deborah Chow is directing the series and serving as showrunner, a worthy choice after her fantastic work on The Mandalorian. She will be an executive producer on the series, as will Kathleen Kennedy, Michelle Rejwan, Ewan McGregor, and Joby Harold.
This is a huge year for Star Wars, and there’s a number of shows that are going to be dropping all throughout the year, but this is without question my most anticipated show of them all. I cannot wait to see McGregor and Christensen back in this story, and I’m excited that we finally have a date for when it’ll be dropping. It’s noteworthy that this will be dropping the day before Celebration, so I’m guessing there will be a massive focus on Kenobi there. And assuming it’s six episodes long, it will run through the end of June, which seems like a reasonable run time. I’m curious whether there will be any Star Wars content on Disney+ between now and then, as I’m still curious how The Bad Batch will fit in to this whole schedule (Andor is coming this fall, though no exact date is known yet). With Kenobi coming right in the midst of summer, which is when The Bad Batch aired last year, I’m curious to see how the whole year schedule will play out.
Regardless, we at least know the next piece of the puzzle, and that’s the release date for Obi-Wan Kenobi. I can’t wait!
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