May the Fourth is with us, and Star Wars Day just got that bit more special with the unveiling of a new trailer for Obi-Wan Kenobi. Originally announced in 2019, this is one of the big ones for Disney. Because this new series builds the bridge between the critically (Darth) Mauled Star Wars prequel films and the classic late 1970s and early 1980s franchise.
The series also reunites Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan and Hayden Christensen as Vader, 17 years since they last faced each other. And we are primed for a classic. The Mandalorian director Deborah Chow is once again steering the ship and the wider cast includes Kumail Nanjani, Rupert Friend and Indira Varma.
The backstory is already juicy. Anakin Skywalker was Obi-Wan Kenobi’s protégé. But they fell out spectacularly after Skywalker Snr ingested a whole bunch of fake news about the Jedi Order and was radicalised by future Emperor and all-round agent of chaos, Sheev Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), into joining the Dark Side.
Their fall out culminated with a duel on the Planet Mustafar that left Skywalker Snr needing to be rebuilt as one of the most iconic cyborgs in film history, Sith Lord Darth Vader.
The next time we saw the pair of them on screen together (at least in terms of the Star Wars franchise timeline) was Sir Alec Guinness as Obi-Wan being struck down by Darth Vader (played by Dave Prowse, voiced by James Earl Jones) at his most terrifying and brutal.
Obi-Wan Kenobi picks up the action in 9 BBY. This is ten years after Revenge of the Sith, and nine years before A New Hope (just as The Mandalorian can be spliced between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens).