In the decade since Disney bought Lucasfilm and Star Wars from George Lucas at the tune of 4 BILLION DOLLARS, they’ve put out a lot of Star Wars content. We got an entirely new trilogy that was supposed to cap off the Skywalker story. We got two spin-off movies: Rogue One and Solo. Disney Plus has put out two seasons of The Mandalorian and one season of The Book of Boba Fett. They’ve got a lot more planned. I’m not bringing the video games into this because Disney is not directly responsible for those. Well, the teaser trailer for the upcoming Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi series has dropped. And…I’m not impressed. I’ll explain why in a bit, but let me tell you what IS going for this new show, though. First of all: Ewan McGregor has returned as the legendary Jedi Knight. He was absolutely the best part of the Prequel Trilogy, which I’ve always had an affinity for, despite the trilogy’s glaring problems. Secondly: Hayden Christiansen is returning as Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker. Say what you will about Hayden’s performance in Episodes II and III, his turn as the newly-minted Dark Lord was pretty good. I like the look of Obi-Wan and the world here. Deborah Chow, who directed the best episodes of The Mandalorian, is directing this entire show. THAT’S awesome.
Here’s the problem, though. Disney’s handling of Star Wars has been abysmal. As someone who is very forgiving as a Star Wars fan, I’ve been less than impressed with what they’ve been here. Truth be told, I do enjoy the sequel trilogy, especially The Force Awakens, but The Last Jedi proved that there was no plan in place for how this trilogy was going to unfold, and Rise of Skywalker cemented that idea in reality as the worst Star Wars movie since Attack of the Clones. It hurts the most because it was supposed to be the culmination of the entire Skywalker story-line. Well, the fan reception to Episode VIII forced a course correction which ruined the final movie. The ideas in Episode VIII were jettisoned almost entirely to please the fan-base. But by doing so, they pissed off the fans even more. Rogue One was outstanding, but even that movie was mired by behind-the-scenes issues. Solo was a middling affair surrounding the franchise’s favorite rogue, Han Solo. It bombed at the box office, forcing Disney to rethink their strategy for Star Wars. The Book of Boba Fett took one of the most infamous bounty hunters in all of Star Wars and turned him into an incompetent fool.
That brings me back to Obi-Wan Kenobi. This trailer is NOTHING but blatant fan service. Is it going to get people’s attention? Absolutely. That’s what it was designed to do. But the real big issue here, is that we already know where the character ultimately ends up, so that’s going to rob the series of any form of tension. Am I curious to see what Ben Kenobi’s been up to after Revenge of the Sith? Sure, but in a six-episode limited series? Is that going to be enough time to tell a really compelling story? Unless each episode is going to be an hour-long, I seriously doubt it. Honestly, as vast as the Star Wars universe is, why are we retreading old territory? Why aren’t we exploring brand new characters and events that aren’t related to what’s come before. Is it really that difficult? Look, do I want Obi-Wan Kenobi to fail? Absolutely not. This is one of my favorite characters in the entire franchise. I want this show to be good. I want it to succeed. But my experience with what Disney has done with the IP leaves me with very little faith that they won’t screw this up. I will go on record saying that I have enjoyed the sequel movies and Rogue One in particular, but these movies are NOTHING compared to the Original Trilogy, and I really enjoyed The Mandalorian. But, I just can’t get excited for this. I’m not going to trash-talk people who are. If you’re excited about this, great. That’s awesome. I wish I was. I’m willing to give it a shot. The show is set to debut on May 25 of this year, which also marks the 45th anniversary of the original film, which was written and directed by George Lucas. This show could go either way, but this trailer really did nothing for me.