It is perhaps an unexpected thing to recall, but about a quarter-century ago people started hating Star Wars. Arguably the most divisive franchise to ever exist, it was adored for its early entries, but when George Lucas released ‘digitally remastered’ versions of Star Wars movies, many fans were livid. However, this pales in comparison to the apoplectic rage experienced by fans when the prequel trilogy hit the screens with “The Phantom Menace” in 1999.
Comedian Brian Posehn jokingly referred to Star Wars as his “Vietnam”, and he wasn’t alone in being disgruntled. Patton Oswalt’s stand-up routine included a segment where he stated that if he had access to time machine technology, killing George Lucas with a shovel before he made the prequels would be more important than stopping either the Kennedy assassination or the Holocaust; it is how he intends to preserve history at least. A whole film documentary titled The People vs. George Lucas shows multitudes of angry followers who feel their childhood memories have been ripped apart by those responsible for such disfigurement.
This piece of nerd history has practically vanished though judging by all the excitement over Disney+’s original series Obi-Wan Kenobi. Instead of screaming red-faced at Hayden Christensen, some are actually happy that others from the prequel trilogy (even entertaining ideas about another movie showing him as Darth Vader) are back around while nobody seems to remember his winning two Golden Raspberry Awards For Worst Supporting Actor.
Ewan McGregor himself faced difficulty dealing with hatred towards his character from fans of Star Wars as Obi-Wan Kenobi. “They weren’t received very well,” McGregor told Total Film Magazine (via CBR). “Every time they were released, they were being hammered. And that didn’t feel very good.” Yet unlike so many other casting choices that drew fan wrath, McGregor was embraced by audiences, making the Obi-Wan Kenobi series hugely anticipated and successful.
McGregor is fantastic as Obi-Wan Kenobi, bringing a wounded dignity and reluctant heroism to the show, especially when he goes full Alec Guinness. Set ten years after Order 66 which tried to eliminate all Jedi, this six-part miniseries follows its eponymous character in hiding on Tatooine. He does menial work to stay alive while keeping an eye on young Luke Skywalker from afar. This man haunted by his last (and in fact, only) meeting with Anakin Skywalker who would have been the Jedi’s protege but turned into Darth Vader and brought destruction upon galaxy.
This failure and the years of darkness that cowered the Republic have wearied Kenobi down into a weary despairing old man. “Let’s face it Joe; we lost. The Jedi are finished,” he states. “You look kind of smashed up,” a girl says to him, a claim difficult to refute. McGregor is excellent at making vulnerability and anguish tangible in Kenobi, but also capturing the character’s charm, empathy, and intelligence.
In this way, he effectively gives us the impression of someone who has seen too much in life and is just drifting along without any hope or faith: because after all they do live by something akin to religious tenets or spiritual practices as we understand them today. In fact, God may even be dead to him given how McGregor plays Kenobi.
The opening minutes feature a quick rush of lightsabers and blasters before settling into what is a rather forlornly paced episode about its main protagonist (and his world), wherein Star Wars’ Inquisitors hunt down any remaining Jedi while huge parts of the galaxy exist as anarchic permanent Wild Wests. Senator Bail Organa contacts Kenobi when Princess Leia goes missing; this leads to an elderly Jedi coming out of hiding with reservations and embarking on another adventure.
Certainly one of Obi-Wan Kenobi’s pleasures is seeing Leia and Luke as children. To me, Vivien Lyra Blair (Bird Box) makes for a delightful young Leia who hopefully won’t go through what Jake Lloyd did after being Anakin in Episode I: The Phantom Menace. “My whole school life was a total living hell,” Lloyd reportedly confessed to The Sun UK newspaper before adding that he hates facing cameras now also. Besides Blair, Reva played by Moses Ingram is especially fierce as she stars as Third Sister of the Inquisitors.
Of course though it did take Lucasfilm itself going so far as warning her about racist reactions to her character when she was cast, it is a sad testament to Star Wars fans that Ingram had to be told this too.
Fortunately, Obi-Wan Kenobi is typically very fun and entertaining no matter one’s level of investment in this story. Deborah Chow’s direction continues to prove why she is one of the best directors in television today; with a filmography that includes Mr. Robot, Better Call Saul, Reign, Marvel’s Jessica Jones. Her work on The Mandalorian has prepared her for directing every episode of Obi-Wan Kenobi and it’s well done in terms of pacing and suspense. Showrunner Joby Harold practically knows how to handle franchise projects with high expectations (and fan base Twitter trolls) well without offending the fans (having worked on Transformers, John Wick, King Arthur, Army of the Dead, and The Flash films).
If Obi-Wan Kenobi isn’t exactly original, it’s not to its detriment. This series obviously doesn’t exist within a vacuum so it’s beholden to the trilogies of Star Wars films it sits between but it does so respectfully in smart ways. It is also reminiscent of some other movies—Logan features an old hero with some power left struggling to protect a young girl; John Wick also had bounty hunters like those we see here with neon-lit streets all over; while The Last Jedi had self-exiled beaten-down reluctant Jedis too. These influences blend and mix together into the Star Wars universe in often quite satisfying ways.
Obi-Wan introduces several truly enjoyable people as well. Alongside Ingram’s Reva, Kumail Nanjiani (continuing his Chris Pratt-like trajectory from comedy slackster to action beefcake) delivers tremendous laughs as a con-man pretending to be a Jedi while Flea from The Red Hot Chili Peppers (yes you read that right) has some disgusting fun as a scumbag kidnaper. A planet-hopping adventure through Obi-Wan Kenobi allows for many pleasurable little side trips into the lives and habitats of this fleshed-out galaxy, and the show is often at its most entertaining when it isn’t in an action mode.
There are also some minor issues with Obi-Wan Kenobi. Some glaringly stupid continuity choices that make suspension of disbelief even harder, such as Kenobi abruptly leaving a rooftop battle or how he digs up his lightsaber from nowhere in the vast deserts after presumably shifting sands for a decade. There is also some clunky dialogue and like any prequel series, there is a lack of stakes to some extent; when audiences know characters will either survive or be around for later films they practically become invincible thus removing some tension from usually exciting action scenes. While the inexorable march toward a showdown between Vader and Kenobi in some sense or another is definitely exciting, it’s more interesting to map the roads they take.
However, this does not give the writers a reason to go slow on the character development of this prequel; we know that these characters shall overcome these events and become those people, so it is crucial in examining how they managed to do that. Obi-Wan Kenobi seems to be heading in that direction, especially after its two-part premier which focused on the psychologies of its characters while continuing with more Star Wars world-building in pleasurable manners. It has been almost 20 years since we last saw McGregor’s Kenobi, who was actually underrated in Revenge of The Sith; now that all the hatred has subsided, it is quite thrilling what he will do now.
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