Obi-Wan Kenobi is unprecedented, there’s no questioning that. This series not only has Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen reprising their roles as Kenobi and Darth Vader (née Anakin Skywalker), it will also bring a new host of characters both good and evil to fill out this shadowy period in the Star Wars timeline.
But the latest Obi-Wan Kenobi trailer reveals this show is doing something completely new — knowing when to quit while they’re ahead. Here’s everything you need to know.
Lucasfilm is marketing Obi-Wan Kenobi as a “six-part television event,” meaning it’s a limited series. There will be six episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi, and then no more. In all of Disney+’s prolific release history, most of its shows don’t announce a firm end date. Even series that feel self-contained, like WandaVision or The Book of Boba Fett, were never formally “canceled” — leaving hope for a second season.
“Limited series” marketing has multiple benefits, especially for high-profile shows like this one. First, it establishes the series as a finite commodity. You can’t miss a single episode of the show because there are only going to be six of them.
Second, this allows Lucasfilm to enter Obi-Wan Kenobi into contention for the Limited Series/TV movie category for the Emmys. This isn’t wishful thinking; The Mandalorian has been nominated for Drama series categories, and WandaVision competed under the Limited Series category, though that choice was controversial. This solidifies Obi-Wan Kenobi will fall under that (usually less competitive) category if it is nominated.
But more than anything, this shows the confidence Lucasfilm has in the series. This isn’t the next Mandalorian, and it doesn’t have to be. Obi-Wan Kenobi has nothing to prove; it’ll only build on the vast legacy formed by the prequel trilogy.
If there’s any show that can rest on its own merits and not the looming possibility of a cliffhanger ending, it’s this one. It doesn’t limit the potential — just as The Book of Boba Fett was a spiritual sequel to The Mandalorian, there could be a follow-up series to Obi-Wan Kenobi, maybe even one focused solely on Darth Vader.
But even if this is the only taste of this Star Wars time period we get, it sure looks like it would be worth it. Six episodes of the perfect cast at the right age aligning? It’s definitely better than nothing.
Obi-Wan Kenobi premieres May 27, 2022 on Disney+.
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