Even before the start of the series Obi-Wan Kenobinew sequel to the Star Wars saga, fans knew one thing: the main characters of this new production – whose final episode was posted on the Disney+ streaming platform this Wednesday, June 22 – were all going to survive the six episodes.
Obi-Wan Kenobi is indeed chronologically interspersed between the first two Star Wars trilogies. In episode IV released in cinemas in 1977, the jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi lives as a hermit on Tatooine and the Sith lord Darth Vader watches over the imperial fleet of the Empire. These two characters are also the protagonists of the new Disney series. So it was easy to know that they weren’t going to succumb to a lightsaber fight.
All the interest of the scenario ofObi-Wan Kenobi was therefore to suddenly explore new adventures the nineteen years which pass between the fratricidal duel of episode III in which the actor Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi) seriously injures Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker who becomes Darth Vader) and the beginning of episode IV which depicts the beginning of the learning of the Force by Luke Skywalker.
Without divulging anything of the great moments ofObi-Wan Kenobi, the success of the series is to offer something coherent with the Star Wars universe, even if some fans have flushed out anachronisms.
Director Deborah Chow successfully explores the personality of Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi, aptly interpreted by actor Ewan McGregor. The latter has also confided to being more comfortable with his character than he had been during the filming of the trilogy dating from the early 2000s. Negative point to put down to Deborah Chow, many scenes of actions are sloppy and badly put together in the episodes ofObi-Wan Kenobi.
>> Read also: How the new Star Wars series explores the personality of an aging “Obi-Wan Kenobi”
Despite this flaw, the new production of the Star Wars franchise – acquired for 4 billion dollars by Disney in 2012 during the takeover of Lucasfilm – is a huge audience success. This validates the strategy of the Burbanks company to now focus more on series than on feature films to exploit the Star Wars brand and looks more and more like a lever to attract new subscribers to the pay platform Disney +.
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While several new series (Andor, The Mandalorian season 3) are already in production, Disney announced on May 27 during the “Star Wars celebration” in California the creation of Skeleton Crew, a new galactic soap opera with actor Jude Law in which a group of ten-year-old children get lost in the galaxy. The acceleration of the pace of filming, which sometimes weighs on the quality of the production, therefore leaves the door open to a season 2 of the series. Obi-Wan Kenobi.
“If you need my help, you know where to find me”
Obi-Wan Kenobiin episode 6
At the end of the final episode, Leia and Luke are ten years old. They are therefore still much younger than in A New Hope, the fourth film of the saga according to the chronological order of history. Deborah Chow sows some clues that suggest that the two children could be the central characters of a possible season 2. The final episode ends with a visit from Obi-Wan to each of the twins.
On the planet Alderaan, Bail Organa, the adoptive father of Princess Leia, confides to the old Jedi: “I worry about its future. The Empire is growing in power and audacity”. To which Obi-Wan responds almost enviously: “If you need my help, you know where to find me”.
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The series was however thought to end with episode 6, as revealed by director Deborah Chow in an exclusive interview with the British magazine RadioTimes. “You know, we always designed this as a ‘finished’ series. It’s not a week-long adventure. It’s a big story with a beginning, a middle and an end. So I think this story was really designed as a self-contained narrative”. But she recognizes that the place exists for a season 2. “There are of course other stories that can be told. There are obviously still ten years before ‘A New Hope’ (…) so who knows?
Actors Hayden Christensen and Ewan McGregor have expressed their wish to see a sequel to Obi-Wan Kenobi. “Yeah, it was meant as a single story. But I would like to continue with that character. You know, I think there’s definitely more to explore and I’d be very happy to do that.” notably slipped Hayden Christensen to RadioTimes.