Obi-Wan Kenobi (miniseries)
Co-stars such as Joel Edgerton, Bonnie Piesse, Jimmy Smits, Hayden Christensen (Vader), and Ian McDiarmid also reprise their prequel trilogy roles.Joby Harold was hired to rewrite the series and serve as showrunner in April 2020, executive producing with Chow, McGregor, Kathleen Kennedy, and Michelle Rejwan.[4][5] Additionally, Ming Qiu, a stunt performer from the Star Wars series The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett, portrays Jedi Master Minas Velti during the Order 66 flashback,[18] Grant Feely appears as Luke Skywalker, Anakin's son,[29] and Anthony Daniels reprises his franchise role as C-3PO while Temuera Morrison appears as a homeless veteran clone trooper after playing the clones in previous Star Wars media.[33] Ewan McGregor, who portrayed Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, had informally expressed willingness to reprise the role, which led to a formal meeting with Lucasfilm so the company could gauge his interest in returning to the character for a spin-off film.[35] In May 2018, the film was reportedly titled Obi-Wan: A Star Wars Story, with a plot involving Kenobi protecting a young Luke Skywalker on the planet Tatooine during tensions between local farmers and Tusken Raiders.[44] Pre-production on the series was underway at Pinewood Studios in London by January 2020,[45] and screen tests were taking place with potential actors opposite McGregor.[50] At Disney's Investor Day event on December 10, Kennedy announced that the series was officially titled Obi-Wan Kenobi, and confirmed that Chow was directing.Despite this, Kennedy said there was a chance that more of the series could be made due to the enjoyable time the cast and crew had creating it, as long as there was a compelling story reason to return to the character,[6] with both McGregor and Christensen expressing interest in making another season.[55][56] In April 2023, Kennedy noted a second season was not considered an "active development" for Lucasfilm, reiterating Chow and McGregor's interest in more, and saying the company might return to the character and storyline "down the road".[58][59] Harold wanted to explore what happened between McGregor's portrayal of Kenobi and that of Alec Guinness in the original trilogy, and noted that 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.[60] Harold also clarified that the series would not break canon after speculation arose that it would deviate from it due to Reva stabbing the Grand Inquisitor in "Part II", with many fans presuming he was dead, thus contradicting the events of Star Wars Rebels.[66] Additional inspirations included "gritty, poetic westerns" such as The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) and The Proposition (2005), as well as the works of Akira Kurosawa.[7] By the time the production shut down in January 2020, Ray Park was preparing to reprise his role as Darth Maul and an actor had been cast to portray a young Luke Skywalker.Although Neeson had previously expressed hesitation to reprise the role in a TV series because he prefers films,[28] he agreed to appear out of respect for Lucas and because he did not want Qui-Gon to be recast.For instance, the designs of Tatooine remain consistent with the films but they were able to bring new elements to the series for the town of Anchorhead, which had first been referenced in Star Wars (1977) but had never been portrayed on screen before.He further explained that the hilt's visual aesthetic was primarily inspired from the prequel trilogy, but the team had upgraded the emitter to imitate Guinness's lightsaber in Star Wars.[15] McGregor did costume tests for Obi-Wan Kenobi on the set of The Mandalorian,[87] 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.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.[95] In her interview with Star Wars Insider, Holt later said that "we didn't have very much time on Obi-Wan Kenobi", saying that was because it was "a very compressed process", which made work on the soundtrack "challenging" for her and Chow.[93] A short sizzle reel was released on November 12, 2021, as part of the Disney+ Day celebration, which included concept art, and McGregor and Chow discussing the series.[9] Daniel Chin of The Ringer also praised the trailer, saying that it "delivers a rush of Star Wars prequel nostalgia" and also noted the use of "Duel of the Fates", which he felt set the tone and stakes of the series.[106] The series was promoted at Star Wars Celebration on May 26, including an advance screening of the first two episodes and a live performance of the main theme by the Pacific Symphony orchestra, conducted by Williams.[109] The "Obi-Wan Wednesdays" product program, which reveals toys, apparel, action figures, accessories, books, and comics related to the series following an episode's release, started on May 25 and concluded on June 29.[111][54][112] A content warning was added to the first, fifth, and sixth episodes due to the similarities between scenes depicting violence involving children during Order 66 and the Robb Elementary School shooting from May 24.[115] Whip Media, which tracks viewership data for the more than 25 million worldwide users of its TV Time app, calculated that Obi-Wan Kenobi was the most anticipated new television series of May 2022.[117] JustWatch, a guide to streaming content with access to data from more than 20 million users around the world, reported that Obi-Wan Kenobi was the most-streamed series in the U.S. from the week ending May 29 to June 5.The website's critics consensus reads, "This won't be the Obi-Wan Kenobi some viewers are looking for, but Ewan McGregor's soulful performance and some refreshing twists make this a satisfying – if circuitous – addition to the Star Wars saga.[130] CNN writer Brian Lowry commended McGregor's performance, writing that he "proves [to be] an enormous asset, perfectly capturing the legendary Jedi at this stage", while also feeling the show "concocts a more-than-plausible explanation" for Kenobi's actions during the time period.He also enjoyed Kenobi and Leia's dynamic in the second episode, along with the production values and cinematography, but said "scenes on Tatooine and Daiyu have a strange, artificial quality to them unbefitting of Obi-Wan's grand status".[49] For her role as Reva Sevander, Moses Ingram said she received hundreds of direct messages on Instagram containing death threats and racist abuse which she revealed examples of on May 31, 2022.