Fans awaiting Ewan McGregor’s long-sought role reprisal on Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi will have to wait slightly longer—two whole days—for the event television show’s arrival, but streamer Disney+ plans to make up for its tardiness twofold. That’s because the series, originally set to premiere on May 25, is now scheduled for Friday, May 27, on which the first two episodes will premiere.
Obi-Wan Kenobi’s delayed debuting double-header was announced straight from the wizened desert-hidden Jedi master’s mouth… well, actor Ewan McGregor’s, anyway. In a video (seen just below) released today, the headliner—who appears in street clothes, dramatically more groomed than he does on the series footage—drops news about the show’s departure from its hitherto May 25 arrival, which would have seen it premiere on a Wednesday, which has become the norm for new Disney+ episodes. However, the new May 27 date allows the show to head into the Memorial Day weekend with maximum momentum, notably to compete against streaming giant Netflix, which will debut the long-anticipated, pandemic-delayed fourth season of its showcase series, Stranger Things, on that very same day. Thus, viewers will find themselves taking part in a holiday weekend streaming war.
Set about a decade after the fiery, climactic events of 2005 Star Wars Prequel Trilogy closer Revenge of the Sith, the Obi-Wan Kenobi event series will see the eponymous Jedi master in the midst of a hidden hermitage in the Tatooine desert, dispirited and downtrodden, spending his time watching from afar as young Luke Skywalker (Grant Feely) is raised by his father’s step-brother, Owen Lars (Joel Edgerton), and wife Beru (Bonnie Piesse). However, that bleakness gets interrupted when agents of the Empire—Force-using Jedi-hunters called Inquisitors—arrive in his backwater, as events force him out of hiding, eventually off the planet. Moreover, said events will apparently lead the lost Jedi on a (pre-A New Hope-set) collision course with his former apprentice Anakin Skywalker, who has become—as Obi-Wan’s Force Ghost would eventually describe—“twisted and evil,” clad in black armor and kept alive with robotics and a respirator as Imperial enforcer Darth Vader (Hayden Christensen).
The May 27 date shift arrives after Obi-Wan released a morsel-filled trailer earlier this month, showcasing—without context, of course—a magnificent montage of Original-Trilogy-evocative imagery, leaving would-be viewers with even more questions. Of course, there are bound to be twists and turns when it comes to said imagery. Indeed, mystery still surrounds most of the show’s supporting cast characters, which consist of actors such as O’Shea Jackson Jr., Simone Kessell (not to be confused with the famous run), Kumail Nanjiani, Benny Safdie and Marisé Álvarez. However, we do know that Moses Ingram will play Inquisitor Reva, Rupert Friend will play the Grand Inquisitor, Sung Kang will play Inquisitor the Fifth Brother and Indira Varma will play an Imperial Officer purportedly named Tia.
Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi arrives primarily under the creative purview of showrunner/writer/executive producer Joby Harold (Army of the Dead, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword) and director/executive producer Deborah Chow (The Mandalorian, Better Call Saul). Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy is also serving as an executive producer, joined in that capacity by Michelle Rejwan and star Ewan McGregor himself.
Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi will look to mystically modify your mental grasp on the droids you’re looking for when its first two episodes arrive on Friday, May 27. However, subsequent episodes will drop on a weekly basis on Wednesdays, so look for its normal schedule to commence with Episode 3 on June 1, headed towards its season/series finale with Episode 6 on June 22.
