A new TV spot for the forthcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi, starring Ewan McGregor, is using iconic footage from across the Star Wars franchise filmography to paint a portrait of a Jedi Master’s life-long arc as a character, with the new show presumably filling in the blanks for how the character spent his time between trilogies.
“Obi-Wan. Now that’s a name I’ve not heard in a long time,” was the famous line uttered by Alec Guinness more than forty years ago.
From working under the tutelage of Liam Neeson’s Qui-Gon Jinn as a young Padawan himself, to later being the mentor of Hayden Christensen’s Anakin Skywalker, the clip serves as a montage of all the highlights — and lowlights — of Obi-Wan’s life so far. That includes the battles he engaged in with both Ray Park’s Darth Maul, and later Anakin after he turned to the dark side on the lava planet Mustafar, with both altercations culminating in Obi-Wan bisecting his opponent with a lightsaber.
The prequel movies were flawed to say the least, with 2005’s Revenge of the Sith famously cramming all the characters into their A New Hope starting positions by its conclusion. So, just what happened in the several decades that passed while Obi-Wan was chilling on Tatooine while watching over young Luke Skywalker from afar? The answer to that very question is what is promised in the new series.
We’re probably most excited about how Obi-Wan came up with the fool-proof pseudonym, “Old Ben,” which was apparently successful in evading detection by the Galactic Empire. If the show is anything like Solo: A Star Wars Story, we’re sure to get a dedicated scene spelling out in excruciating detail how he came up with the alias. Maybe a character will ask him, “You look old, how have you been?” then turn to look directly into the camera.
Obi-Wan Kenobi comes to Disney Plus Friday.
