Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker not only marked the end of the Skywalker saga, but also the last time franchise icon John Williams would work in the galaxy far, far away. At least, that’s what we thought. It turns out that Williams actually returned to the Star Wars universe to produce the theme for upcoming Disney Plus Obi-Wan Kenobi — and he did it at his own request.
It’s been confirmed that Loki composer Natalie Holt scored the Ewan McGregor-starring TV series, which makes her the first female composer on any Star Wars production. On top of this honor, Holt also got the chance to partner up with a living legend like Williams on the project. Speaking to Vanity Fair, Holt revealed how the multi-Oscar-winning music man came to be involved on Obi-Wan.
“Obi-Wan is a legacy character that John hadn’t written a theme for because he died quite early on in A New Hope. It’s the only legacy character that he hadn’t done,” Holt explained. “So he spoke to [Lucasfilm president] Kathleen Kennedy and said, “I just want to write Benny a theme.” So who can deny him that? And he did, he wrote the Obi theme, and it just embodies the spirit of the show entirely.”
When asked what it was like to not only follow in Williams’ footsteps but also team up with him in this way, Holt admitted that the experience was sometimes “overwhelming.”
“Obviously, I’m just thrilled to be mentioned in the same breath as John Williams,” she said. “It’s been exciting and overwhelming at times, because I’m such a fan. I want to pay respect to the history of it, and do it justice as well.”
The news that Williams is coming back to the fold is extremely exciting, especially as he’s finally put right a major oversight and has got to belatedly compose a theme for Obi-Wan. What’s more, fans should be excited to hear Holt’s full score, too. The future looks bright for Holt as her terrific work on Loki has already landed her a DC gig in the form of HBO Max’s Batgirl.
Now we’ve got a whole other reason to be hyped for Obi-Wan Kenobi to get here — so we can hear what musical magic Williams and Holt have cooked up. Thankfully, it’s not too long away now as the six-part event series premieres on Disney Plus this May 27.
