Hayden Christensen has officially been confirmed for Obi-Wan Kenobi, which is news that fans were waiting to hear for months, with the actor finding himself the subject of constant speculation that he’d be returning to Star Wars for the massively anticipated Disney Plus series. The show will follow Ewan McGregor’s legendary Jedi as he copes with his self-imposed exile, and the two decades between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope have remained largely untouched in live-action so far.
That presents plenty of storytelling opportunities when it comes to furthering the fractured relationship between Anakin and Obi-Wan, who were almost inseparable after the latter took the youngster under his wing in The Phantom Menace. The Clone Wars added many more layers to the dynamic, and seeing the two cross paths once again is going to have audiences on the edge of their seats.
As well as adding Christensen to the cast, a sizzle reel for Obi-Wan Kenobi was shown to the lucky few in attendance at yesterday’s investor event hosted by Disney, which featured concept art of a Jedi defending a Temple from Darth Vader and an army of Clone Troopers, as well as the sandy landscapes of Tatooine and several creatures which haven’t been seen before that call the planet home.
The leading man dropped some tantalizing hints about where the narrative could be headed as well, and from the sounds of things, he’s excited to be reuniting with Christensen for the show.
“There’s a hunger for this character to come back. The fans have been waiting long enough, you know? He has this one task left, which is to keep Luke safe. We start on Tatooine, and we go on a rollicking adventure. The most beautiful thing of all is that it’s brought me back together with Hayden. It’ll be amazing to bring those characters back together again, very unexpectedly.”
Of course, Disney confirmed a massive number of Star Wars projects yesterday, including a Rogue Squadron movie coming from Wonder Woman‘s Patty Jenkins, but Obi-Wan Kenobi is still the one that the fanbase is looking forward to the most, having spent the last fifteen years clamoring for McGregor to return to the role.