The trailer has since been deleted – but the concept art still gives you plenty to chew on
Footage from an official Disney and Lucasfilm trailer for the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series – one of several Star Wars spin-offs on the Disney+ platform – has been leaked online and we are so ready to dive back into a galaxy far, far away.
In the since-deleted ‘sizzle reel’ that runs for just over a minute long, Ewan McGregor – who returns to the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi after more than 15 years – and director, Deborah Chow, discuss what it means to return to this beloved charachter, where he is at this point in the ‘Skywalker Saga’ and Hayden Christensen’s return as Darth Vader.
Interspersed between the short talking heads are images of concept art that has been created to bring this as-yet-largely unknown chapter between the prequels and the original films to life.
New concept art from Obi-Wan Kenobi has been officially released, including Obi-Wan and Vader facing off yet again! pic.twitter.com/lRR884Mjs0
— Star Wars Holocron (@sw_holocron) November 11, 2021
Speaking at the start of the video, McGregor says “the fans have been waiting long enough” for the return of the iconic character and while we know how his story ends, at this period in the timeline he has “one task left which is to keep Luke safe”. We’re crying already, lads.
This only remaining clip from the footage shows the 50-year-old star practising his lightsaber technique masked up in the set:
Ewan McGregor practicing his lightsaber skills for #ObiWanKenobi pic.twitter.com/CMAyioNHSC
— Star Wars Stuff (@starwarstufff) November 11, 2021
Chow – who has previously worked on 2017’s Beauty and the Beast, Mr. Robot and, of course, The Mandalorian – described the point at which the story picks up as “quite a dark time” and habitually unsafe as “Jedi-hunters” seek to snuff out the remnants of the religion and the republic.
Here are some more screenshots – including yet another of Vader:
New concept art from the upcoming 'Kenobi' Star Wars series shows Darth Vader, Obi-Wan, an Inquisitor, and Hoth speeders. pic.twitter.com/hy6jNWOwqO
— Lights, Camera, Barstool (@LightsCameraPod) November 11, 2021
As tantalising as these images are – the imagination really does run wild – the most heartwarming part of the whole clip was McGregor saying, “the most beautiful thing of all is it’s brought me back together with Hayden”, who we watched play ‘The Chosen One’ Anakin Skywalker, in the prequels under the tutelage of Obi-Wan.
We never really got to see much of him as the Sith Lord Darth Vader (other than that late scene in Revenge of the Sith which we’ll pretend didn’t happen) but you can’t not be excited to see him brought back.
Obi-Wan Kenobi is set to release only on Disney+ sometime in 2022 and we cannot wait.
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