First Look: Star Wars’ Obi-Wan Kenobi teaser trailer

Today Star Wars fans across the galaxy were finally able to say “Hello there” to the first trailer for Disney and Lucasfilm’s “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” a limited series coming to the Disney+ streaming service.

Ewan McGregor is back as the iconic Jedi Master and it was leaked a few weeks ago that Hayden Christensen would reprise his role of Darth Vader too. Also returning are Joel Edgerton (Owen Lars) and Bonnie Piesse (Beru Whitesun Lars) as Luke’s uncle and aunt.

The cast is rounded out with Moses Ingram, Kumail Nanjiani, Indira Varma, Rupert Friend, O’Shea Jackson Jr. (trivia: he’s Ice Cube’s oldest son), Sung Kang, Simone Kessell and Benny Safdie.

All episodes are written by Joby Harold and directed by Deborah Chow.

Although producers and stars have remained tight lipped about the series, we learned today that the story is set 10 years after the last time we saw Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi in “Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.”

Facing the slaughter of almost all the jedi on the order’s of the Emperor and the loss to the dark side of his best friend and Jedi apprentice, Anakin Skywalker (aka Darth Vader), Kenobi retreated to the planet Tatooine to hide and watch over one of Anakin’s two children – Luke.

So without any further ado, let’s dive into the first teaser trailer for “Obi-Wan Kenobi.”

Trailer Reaction

First, I love the look and feel of this. Definitely says “Star Wars.” I also love that it’s not 100% focused on Obi-Wan Kenobi. In fact, for the most part we only get glimpses of the old Jedi Master.

Ben Kenobi may be making like a hermit on Tatooine, but there’s a lot going on in the Star Wars galaxy and the Galactic Empire hasn’t forgotten about the Jedi.

Although the period of time when Obi-Wan Kenobi is watching over Luke Skywalker on Tatooine might seem boring at first, it was actually a time of great danger for any Jedi or force sensitive that managed to escape the Emperor’s Order 66, which had Storm Troopers betray and murder the vast majority of Jedi.

The show wisely does two things. First, it jumps ahead 10 years in the timeline after Revenge of the Sith, aka episode 3 but the 6th Star Wars movie released by Lucasfilm.

Second, the series won’t be limited to the dry deserts of Tatooine. The trailer makes it clear that there will be plenty for Kenobi to do off-planet, in places where it might even rain.

Jumping forward in time allows for the young Luke to have a little more agency, we’re not just watching a baby in a crib. It also means Kenobi has, hopefully, dealt with the guilt he must feel for his role in the rise of Darth Vader and the slaughter of the Jedi.

We know from shows like Star Wars: Rebels (which is set 4 years after the “Obi-Wan Kenobi” in the timeline), that not all the Jedi and othe force wielders were caught by Order 66. The Emperor created a group of Jedi hunters called the Inquisitors to hunt them down and eliminate them.

It also appears that some padawans survived the assault on the Jedi Temple from “Revenge of the Sith.” At least one of them has made it to Tatooine where we see an Inquisitor (Moses Ingram as Reva) facing off with him.

“The Jedi Code is Like an Itch”

Kenobi needs a reason to leave his ward and no matter how strong he has been at avoiding scratching that itch, it looks like the events of this series are going to pull him back in. But how can he help and still avoid showing up on the Empire’s radar?

That should create more than enough tension to fill this limited series.

One final note, the trailer is greatly aided by the use of John Williams’ masterful “Duel of the Fates” Star Wars theme. That’s probably not going to be the final theme music for the series, instead we’ll get something new, but inspired by Kenobi and Anakin’s themes.

It was previously announced that Disney and Lucasfilm wisely brought back Williams to compose and record the theme for the new Obi-Wan Kenobi series. The name of the composer doing the rest of the series’ score has not yet been disclosed.

You may remember that the Kenobi project was originally announced as a movie, one of the stand alone “Star Wars Story” films. However, after “Solo: A Star Wars Story” didn’t perform up to expectations at the box office, that idea was scrubbed.

So here we are, 77 days before “Obi-Wan Kenobi” premieres on Disney+ exactly 45 years after the original Star Wars debuted in theaters. We will be counting the days.

“Obi-Wan Kenobi” launches exclusively on the Disney+ streaming service on May 25.