It would be fair to say that Star Wars has been getting a fairly mixed reception recently, with fans pointing a lot of the blame towards Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy. Both The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker faced huge backlash for a variety of reasons, matters that weren’t helped by reports that the studio made a big effort to retcon many of the criticisms that Rian Johnson’s movie faced, which only made things more difficult for J.J. Abrams when it came to crafting the final chapter of the Skywalker Saga.
With all of the mixed reviews, reports of behind-the-scenes turmoil and an alarmingly high amount of filmmaker turnover, from the outside looking in it seems as though Star Wars is in the midst of a minor crisis. Disney Plus’ The Mandalorian is the sole outlier, though, receiving high praise from both fans and critics, as well as launching a global phenomenon thanks to Baby Yoda.
However, the project set in a galaxy far, far away that’s been generating the most hype is arguably the in-development Obi-Wan Kenobi spinoff series, which will see Ewan McGregor play the title character for the first time since 2005’s Revenge of the Sith. Unfortunately, the show became the latest Star Wars property to be hit with production woes, with Obi-Wan now on the hunt for a new writer after abandoning all of the scripts that had been written, causing shooting to be delayed for over a year.
McGregor has been keen to stress that the Disney Plus exclusive hasn’t been scrapped entirely, but it’s definitely in the midst of a major creative overhaul. In a recent interview though, the Scottish actor admitted that he’s still been catching up on the more recent entries into Star Wars canon to prepare, having become a bit rusty after not being involved in the franchise for 15 years, and he had high praise for The Mandalorian in particular.
“I’ve been watching The Mandalorian. I liked it. I really liked it. And I’m just trying to keep abreast of all the new Star Wars films that come out. And I’m excited about it. It’s been a long time. I can’t remember when the last one I did, 2003 I think was the last one I did.”
Unlike The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker, The Mandalorian hasn’t been getting much in the way of bad press, and showrunner Jon Favreau has definitely set an example on how to do a Star Wars series for the small screen. Hopefully when we finally get to see the Obi-Wan Kenobi show, it hasn’t been obviously affected by the recent delays.
