Obi-Wan Kenobi (miniseries)

• 1. From Film To Series

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  Disney CEO Bob Iger announced the development of several Star Wars standalone spin-off films in February 2013. Obi-Wan Kenobi was the overwhelming winner of a poll by The Hollywood Reporter in August 2016 that asked which Star Wars character deserved a spin-off film. Ewan McGregor, who portrayed Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, had informally expressed willingness to reprise the role. Development on such a film soon began with Stephen Daldry entering talks to direct the project in August 2017. Hossein Amini joined the project in late 2017 to write the script.

  In May 2018, the film was reportedly titled Obi-Wan: A Star Wars Story. Production on the film was expected to take place in Northern Ireland under the working title Joshua Tree. However, Disney cancelled their planned Star Wars spin-off films following the financial failure of Solo: A Star Wars Story in 2018. Lucasfilm's focus changed to making series for the streaming service Disney+. In August 2019, McGregor said he had been asked about a Kenobi spin-off for years and was happy to be involved but there were no plans for such a film at that time.

  McGregor entered negotiations to star in a television series for Disney+ centered on Obi-Wan Kenobi by mid-August 2019. Later that month, at Disney's D23 event, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and McGregor officially announced that the actor would be reprising his role as Kenobi in a new series for Disney+. Filming was scheduled to begin in July 2020, and scripts for the six-episode limited series had already been written by Amini at the time of the announcement. A month later, Kennedy announced that Deborah Chow would direct the Kenobi series after impressing Kennedy with her work directing episodes of The Mandalorian.

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• 2. Exile And Confrontation

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  The series is set after the events of the film Star Wars: Episode III , Revenge of the Sith (2005), during which the Jedi Order was all but destroyed and Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi's apprentice, Anakin Skywalker, became the Sith Lord Darth Vader. After remaining in hiding for the next ten years on the planet Tatooine, watching over Anakin's son Luke, Kenobi is called on a mission to rescue Anakin's daughter Leia when she is kidnapped by the Galactic Empire's Jedi-hunting Inquisitors.

  This brings Kenobi into conflict with Vader, who he believed to be dead, forcing Kenobi to face his traumatic past and guilty feelings. Kenobi left Anakin for dead on Mustafar at the end of the film and feels guilty for doing so. Director Deborah Chow was intrigued by the idea that Kenobi might still care deeply for Anakin. Head writer Joby Harold said the series would relate the very emotional version of Kenobi in the prequels to Alec Guinness's zen master in A New Hope (1977).

  McGregor described Kenobi as being broken, faithless, and beaten, having somewhat given up. He rewatched the Skywalker Saga films to prepare for the role. He also read science fiction novels, including those written by Iain M. Banks, for the role. The series takes place when the Empire is in the ascendancy and the Jedi have been wiped out, with any remaining survivors being on the run and in hiding.

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• 3. Cast And Villains

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  Ewan McGregor stars as the title character, reprising his role from the Star Wars prequel trilogy. Co-stars such as Joel Edgerton, Bonnie Piesse, Jimmy Smits, Hayden Christensen, and Ian McDiarmid also reprise their prequel trilogy roles. Vivien Lyra Blair debuts as a young Leia Organa. Rupert Friend plays the Grand Inquisitor, a member of the Pau'an species from Utapau who is the highest-ranking Inquisitor of the Galactic Empire.

  Sung Kang voices the Fifth Brother, an Inquisitor who rivals Reva and strictly follows orders from both the Grand Inquisitor and Darth Vader. Moses Ingram portrays Reva Sevander, also known as the Third Sister, a ruthless, ambitious Inquisitor who feels a need to prove herself to the Grand Inquisitor and Darth Vader. A former Jedi Youngling, she secretly plots revenge against Vader for killing her peers during Order 66.

  In March 2021, Moses Ingram, Kumail Nanjiani, Indira Varma, Rupert Friend, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Sung Kang, Simone Kessell, and Benny Safdie joined the cast. Ingram was reported to be playing a very important role for the series. A month later, Maya Erskine was cast in a supporting role. The series' premiere in May 2022 revealed that Jimmy Smits was reprising his role from the prequel films as Senator Bail Organa.

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• 4. Visual Technology

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  Filming began on the 4th of May 2021, in Los Angeles, California, with Deborah Chow directing. Chung-hoon Chung served as cinematographer for the series, and the series uses the StageCraft video wall technology, which was previously used for The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. The series also filmed in The Volume set, the soundstage on which StageCraft is implemented, at the Manhattan Beach Studios in Los Angeles.

  Chow chose Chung as the cinematographer as she liked his visual style. McGregor did costume tests for Obi-Wan Kenobi on the set of The Mandalorian and said the StageCraft technology allowed him to enjoy working on the series more than he did on the prequel films due to the latter's extensive use of blue and green screen. Actor Rupert Friend had completed his scenes by that August. Filming had wrapped by September 19, with Nicholas De Toth and Kelley Dixon finishing their scenes.

  Doug Chiang and Todd Cherniawsky were the production designers for the series, with Suttirat Anne Larlarb as costume designer. Chiang, who is the vice president and executive creative director of Lucasfilm overseeing the designs of all the projects, said the biggest challenge of the series was bridging the designs of the prequel and original trilogies together.

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• 5. Musical Themes

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  Natalie Holt was hired to compose the series' score, making her the first woman to score a live-action Star Wars project. Recording for her music was reported to have been taking place for several months by mid-February 2022, when John Williams recorded the main theme for the series with an orchestra in Los Angeles. Holt herself later told Star Wars Insider that she was hired as composer in late December and had to record in early March.

  Williams previously composed the scores for the main Star Wars films, and originally wrote a theme for Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars (1977) which later became associated with the Force in general. Williams approached Kennedy about composing a new theme for the series because Kenobi was the only major character from the original film that he had not written a standalone theme for. Holt said the new theme was reflective, wistful, and had an element of hope which embodies the spirit of the show entirely.

  Chow flew to London to meet with Holt and do a two day intensive immersion into the unfinished footage for the series. Holt then developed themes for the new characters and wrote an original score that she said had its roots in the Star Wars tradition more than Ludwig Göransson's Mandalorian music did. Holt used a hunting horn and some unusual percussion instruments played by Brian Kilgore to create the sound of the Inquisitors.

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• 6. Viewership And Reviews

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  Obi-Wan Kenobi premiered on Disney+ on the 26th of May 2022, with its first two episodes. They were released three hours earlier than expected, at 9 p.m. PDT, rather than at 12 a.m. PDT on May 27. The series' other four episodes were released weekly on Wednesdays from June 1 until June 22. It was originally set to premiere on May 25, the 45th anniversary of the original Star Wars film in 1977.

  Whip Media calculated that Obi-Wan Kenobi was the most anticipated new television series of May 2022. Disney announced that the show was the most-watched series premiere for the streaming service in its opening weekend. JustWatch reported that Obi-Wan Kenobi was the most-streamed series in the U.S. from the week ending May 29 to June 5. Analytics company Samba TV reported Part I was viewed in 2.14 million U.S. households from the 27th of May 30, surpassing the premieres for The Mandalorian second season and The Book of Boba Fett.

  The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an 82% approval rating and an average score of 6.60/10, based on 358 reviews. On Metacritic, the series has a weighted average score of 73 out of 100, based on 19 critics, indicating generally favorable reviews. Matt Purslow of IGN gave the first two episodes an 8 out of 10, praising the storyline and Kenobi's character arc.

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• 7. Awards And Recognition

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  The series received multiple accolades, including winning Best Limited Event Series for Streaming and Best Guest Starring Role on Television for Christensen at the 47th Saturn Awards. It also received a nomination for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series at the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards. By May 2022, Disney and Lucasfilm had decided not to submit the series for consideration at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards because they would have to make all of the series' episodes available to Academy voters by the 15th of June 2022.

  Moses Ingram won a Saturn Award for her performance as Reva after receiving death threats and racist abuse which she revealed examples of on the 31st of May 2022. McGregor called the abusive messages horrendous and said that if you're sending her bullying messages, you're no Star Wars fan in his mind. The series was nominated for Outstanding Picture Editing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie at the Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards.

  The Producers Guild of America Awards recognized Kathleen Kennedy, Michelle Rejwan, Deborah Chow, Ewan McGregor, and Joby Harold as Outstanding Producer of Limited or Anthology Series Television. The Art Directors Guild Awards honored Todd Cherniawsky and Doug Chiang for Excellence in Production Design for a Television Movie or Limited Series.

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