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'Obi-Wan Kenobi' Announces Start of Production By Revealing Cast List

This week Disney announced that the 'Obi-Wan Kenobi' television series would officially start production in April, 2021.

By Silek Sat 03 Apr, 2021 2:48 PM - Last Updated: Mon 05 Apr, 2021 9:19 AM
Some characters can hold fascination for us beyond just their screen time. While the heroes and villains will always hold a special place in our collective consciences, sometimes it is a character just off center, that takes the center stage of our imagination.

While the main protagonist or antagonist of every story usually enjoys the benefit of having their backstory more fully fleshed out during a narrative, these same side characters often slide in and out of the action as needed to move the story along, and often after taking care of some amount of business that was preformed off-screen, or away from the action at hand. D23ObiWanKinobi
Ewan McGregor and Executive Producer
Kathleen Kennedy at 2021's D23.


In my mind, one of the first times I had heard of a story being told either through the perspective of secondary character, or revolving around their actions, was ‘Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead’. This style of storytelling can offer us insight to events that happened between the parts of a story we’ve already been told, or offer a continuation. ‘The Mandalorian’, ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’, even Stephanie Myers’ ‘Midnight Sun’ are all modern examples on not only the benefits of resurrecting fan-favorite tableaus, but also in more fully fleshing out these fictional universes.

Obi-Wan Kenobi has been a subject of this scrutiny for decades. The time spent after delivering Luke to his adoptive parents, and meeting him again as a young man still on Tatooine in A New Hope, has been imagined and reimagined through comics, novels, and animated series. While ‘Mando’ and ‘Baby Yoda’ may be the backstory some didn’t realize we needed, Obi-Wan has never been far from creators’ minds and the biggest side character in the history of history, is finally getting his small screen debut.

This week Disney announced that the Obi-Wan Kenobi television series would officially start production in April, 2021. As a treat to fans, Disney released the cast list, announcing who would be joining Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christenson as he puts on the black suit for the first time in fifteen years.

According to the press release notes, the new series will take place eight years after the events of Revenge of the Sith. While there are several new faces rounding out the impressive cast, two will be familiar to audiences. Joel Edgerton and Bonnie Piesse will be reprising their roles as Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru. MandalorianProduction
Technical innovations developed for the
Mandalorian may lead to a quicker production
time.


While we can only guess at plotlines or what kind of relationships the characters might share, the cast list can often be the catalyst to the kind of anticipation and excitement fans are waiting to express. In addition the principles mentioned, Disney also announced that joining the cast would be Moses Ingram, Rupert Friend, Indira Varma, the ‘Marvel’s Eternal’s’ Kumail Nanjiani, the ‘Fast and The Furious’’ Sung Kang, the ‘Queens Gambit’s’ O’Shea Jackson Jr., Simone Kessell, and Bennie Safdie.

While the release date hasn’t been announced, it is music to many fans ears that production has begun and the series is well on its way.

As we have seen in the past few years, even through the stop-and-go process as production companies activate their covid plans and action steps, series are making it to the small screen in a fraction of the time it has taken in the past. Assuming they will be using some of the groundbreaking production technology used in the Mandalorian, some are unofficially calling for an early 2022 release.

Obi-Wan Kenobi is being executive produced by Kathleen Kennedy, Deborah Chow, Michelle Rejwan, Ewan McGregor, and series scribe Joby Harold.


Let us know what you think in the comments.


WRITTEN AND EDITED BY Silek

IMAGES SOURCED FROM Walt Disney Studios
3 Comments
Sun 04 Apr, 2021 9:14 AM
I have to admit I'm looking forward to this series. Obi-Wan was one of the best characters in the prequels
Sun 04 Apr, 2021 9:23 AM
I'm honestly curious to see how they will do a mentally scarred post Mustafar Obi-Wan
Wed 07 Apr, 2021 3:53 AM
My first and foremost emotion concerning this series is fear. Ewan McGregor having been named Executive Producer does comfort my fears a little bit but noticing a distinct lack of mentioning involvement of Favreau, Faloni or Lucas sends shivers down my spine and always seeing Kathleen's name being listed first in the Executive Producers list absolutely terrifies me. Having Hayden do Darth Vader isn't even close to concerning in comparison. Awesome article by the way, again, as usual!