The Disney+ Obi-Wan Kenobi Series Is the One Thing Every Star Wars Fan Wants

Disney has turned out a lot of Star Wars content since acquiring the franchise along with Lucasfilm in 2012. Four feature films, two animated series, hundreds of comics and novels—it’s been a golden age of Star Wars content and now Disney+ is adding live-action TV shows to the canon.

But looking at the breadth of Star Wars content Disney has made over the past seven years, you’ll notice attention has been focused primarily on expansion, with shows (Star Wars Resistance) and movies (The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi) set in the sequel area or during or around the original trilogy (Rogue One, Star Wars Rebels). Even Solo: A Star Wars Story, which took place chronologically almost equidistant from Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, felt way more in line with 1977’s Star Wars than 2005’s. Aside from the continuing adventure of Star Wars: The Clone Wars and a few comics, the prequel era has been ignored.

Not anymore.

During the Disney+ Showcase at D23, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy stirred the audience into a frenzy (including me, BTW) by bringing out Ewan McGregor and confirming what’s been rumored for literal years: he’s gonna play Obi-Wan Kenobi again, and it’s gonna be in a Disney+ show.

There was no footage, no photos, no official title, no anything, but the audience went nuts. It proves what I’ve felt has been true all along: whatever your take on the divisive prequels, you love McGregor’s young Ben Kenobi.

As well you should! He brought enthusiasm and excitement to every scene, leaping into action with gusto and infusing all his dialogue with sass and snark. He was a dream. That’s a fact. And as much as older fans may hate the prequels, you can’t deny McGregor’s passion.

But the thing is, it’s been 20 years since The Phantom Menace came out and now the young Millennials and Generation Z kids that grew up with that trilogy are adults with a fondness for an era that Disney—or at least the filmmakers that gleefully geek our over all the practical effects in the new movies—has been aggressively steering away from. This audience is now older, meaning they have purchasing power, meaning they are ready to be catered to. So how does Disney come up with something that pleases prequel fans while also exciting fans of the old aesthetic? You get great storytellers, for one thing (like what Dave Filoni has brought to The Clone Wars) and you build something around the one part of the prequels we can all agree was rad as hell: Obi-Wan Kenobi.

This Disney+ series is the great Star Wars unifier we’ve all been waiting for–especially if it ends up looking even half as good as that Mandalorian trailer (you all saw that fire, right?). A showrunner still hasn’t been named for the Obi-Wan show yet, but looking at the talent Disney+ has lined up, odds are they’ll be a winner. Maybe it’s Filoni’s time to step up and lead a live-action show? Or–don’t get your hopes up–can you imagine a Taika Waititi Obi-Wan series? Or just an episode?! Oh, the sass would be out of this world.

A young Obi-Wan show also provides a balance, since Disney+ will have live-action shows set in the prequel (Obi-Wan), original (The Rogue One spin-off), and sequel (The Mandalorian) eras. It’s all Star Wars, all represented, all on Disney+ simultaneously. It’s what I’ve been waiting for, it’s what all Star Wars fans have been waiting for… and good lord, it means we are getting more of this.

I’m not ready… but I am so ready.

Where to watch Star Wars: Episode III–Revenge of the Sith