Part I (Obi-Wan Kenobi)
"Part I" is the first episode of the American streaming television series Obi-Wan Kenobi, based on Star Wars created by George Lucas.[4][5] Deborah Chow was hired to direct all episodes for the series by September 2019, while Joby Harold became the head writer and showrunner in April 2020 following Kennedy's disapproval with the scripts and subsequent rewrites.[2][8][9] Chow also took inspirations from "gritty, poetic westerns" including The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007), The Proposition (2005), and the works of Akira Kurosawa.They were recruited by Darth Vader, with Chow wanting them to be depicted in a way that "felt true to the spirit of the animated series [Star Wars Rebels (2014-2018)]", where they had originated from.The episode features the Grand Inquisitor, Fifth Brother, and the Third Sister / Reva Sevander, and their introduction in the series was an idea conceived by Dave Filoni.He also did so as he felt that having her being kidnapped would force Kenobi out of exile because he would equally prioritize Leia and Luke's, explaining that "Bail [Organa] gets to articulate that to Obi-Wan in the cave [in Episode 1].[19] The episode stars Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi, and features recurring co-stars Rupert Friend as the Grand Inquisitor, Sung Kang as the Fifth Brother, Moses Ingram as Reva Sevander / Third Sister, Benn Safdie as Nari, Vivien Lyra Blair as a young Princess Leia, Simone Kessel as Breha Organa, Flea as Vect Nokru.[21] Principal photography began on May 4, 2021, on the annual Star Wars Day celebration, with Deborah Chow directing, and Chung-hoon Chung serving as cinematographer.[24] Visual effects for the episode were created by ILM, Hybride, Image Engine, Important Looking Pirates, Soho VFX, Wētā FX, Blind LTD, and ReDefine.[27] While writing the score for the series, she wanted to find the "right balance for them [Deborah Chow and Kathleen Kennedy] were looking for in Obi's world" and took inspiration from William's work on Star Wars.The site's critical consensus reads, "Ewan McGregor returns to the Star Wars fold with a wearier Obi-Wan, but this saga still feels vital in a premiere that cleverly plays on fan expectations.He also praised the pacing and McGregor's performance and the amount of screen-time Kenobi has in the episode, writing it "excels when it accumulates silent details and small interactions from his lonely routine".[40] BBC Culture's Stephen Kelly praised Harold's script, opining that it was "remarkable in the first episode for its tightness, with not a single scene feeling superfluous or wasted".He also praised its production values, though he did say it was "unmistakably televisual", writing "scenes on Tatooine ... have a strange, artificial quality to them unbefitting of Obi-Wan's grand status.