We still have no idea when we’ll get another Star Wars movie from Disney, but there will be plenty of TV shows to tide us over in the meantime. On Wednesday, Disney announced the release date for Obi-Wan Kenobi. The next Star Wars spinoff series will premiere on Disney Plus on May 25th. The limited series will run for six episodes.
“The story begins 10 years after the dramatic events of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, in which Obi-Wan Kenobi faced his greatest defeat — the downfall and corruption of his best friend and Jedi apprentice, Anakin Skywalker, who turned to the dark side and became the evil Sith Lord, Darth Vader,” the synopsis for the show reads.
Obi-Wan Kenobi release date revealed
At first, Disney planned to revive Kenobi in a movie titled Obi-Wan: A Star Wars Story. Disney would scrap that plan when it canceled all of the spinoff movies after Solo: A Star Wars Story bombed. Then, in August 2019, Disney began negotiating with Ewan McGregor to star in an Obi-Wan Kenobi series on Disney Plus. McGregor appeared at Disney’s D23 Expo later that same month to confirm that he would reprise the role in an upcoming show.
Pre-production began in January of 2020, but reports began to circulate indicating Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy was unhappy with the scripts. As a result, Disney put the series on hold while it looked for new writers. Then the pandemic hit.
At long last, Disney started filming Obi-Wan Kenobi in April 2021. Just over a year later, Disney and Lucasfilm will release the first episode of the show on Disney Plus. May 25th, 2022 will be the 45th anniversary of the release of the original Star Wars.
In addition to the release date, Disney also shared this Obi-Wan Kenobi poster:
Cast, crew, and more details
Obi-Wan Kenobi
will star Ewan McGregor as the title character and will also see the return of Hayden Christensen as Darth Vader. The two will be joined by Moses Ingram, Joel Edgerton, Bonnie Piesse, Kumail Nanjiani, Indira Varma, Rupert Friend, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Sung Kang, Simone Kessell, and Benny Safdie. Edgerton and Piesse will reprise their roles as as Owen Lars and Beru Whitesun Lars from the prequel trilogy.
Deborah Chow (The Mandalorian) directed Obi-Wan Kenobi. Joby Harold (Army of the Dead) wrote the scripts. Chow and Harold will serve as executive producers alongside Kathleen Kennedy, Michelle Rejwan, and Ewan McGregor.
The Obi-Wan Kenobi release date announcement came the same day that the season finale of The Book of Boba Fett dropped on Disney Plus. Disney is also expected to release the third season of The Mandalorian before the end of the year. Other shows currently in the works include Andor, Ahsoka, The Acolyte, and Lando. Some of these shows might debut at some point in 2022 as well, but production has yet to start on most of them. Disney has also confirmed that the animated series The Bad Batch will get another season.
