Obi-Wan Kenobi: Release Date, Trailer, Cast Updates, and More

We're less than two months away from the premiere of Obi-Wan Kenobi. In this highly anticipated Disney+ series, Ewan McGregor will reprise his role as the titular character and don the robes of the iconic Jedi once again.

The limited series will be a deep dive into Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Jedi who mentored both Anakin and Luke Skywalker in the movie saga. The show is set 10 years after the events of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and will explore the psyche of the beloved Jedi master. It will also see him going up against some very familiar foes. 

Here's everything we know about the new Obi-Wan Kenobi series so far.

Release Date

It's coming in May. While the premiere of Obi-Wan Kenobi was originally set for May 25, the show's debut has been pushed back two days. The series will now launch with two episodes on Disney+ on Friday, May 27. McGregor announced the news in a video. 

Trailer

The first teaser trailer for Obi-Wan Kenobi gave an idea of the peril that the Jedi is in, as he's been in hiding since the events of Episode III, but it also confirms that he hasn't given up hope. We know that the Empire is only growing in strength, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel as a haggard Obi-Wan checks in on a very young Luke Skywalker on Tatooine. 

Casting

A number of new cast members have been announced for the Obi-Wan series. Moses Ingram, Joel Edgerton, Bonnie Piesse, Kumail Nanjiani, Rupert Friend, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Sung Kang, Simone Kessell, and Benny Safdie have all joined the cast, per Variety. In addition, Indira Varma (Game of Thrones and For Life) has been confirmed as a cast member. 

None of the stars' roles have been announced, but Edgerton played Luke Skywalker's uncle, Owen Lars, in both Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, while Piesse played Beru Lars, Luke's aunt.

Hayden Christensen will return. Kathleen Kennedy announced in December 2020 that Hayden Christensen will return as Darth Vader for the series, pitting Obi-Wan and his former protege against each other once again. Christensen made his first appearance in the Star Wars universe in Episode II, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, as teenaged Anakin Skywalker. He became the iconic evil Sith Lord in Revenge of the Sith.

A comedy fave has joined the cast. PEN15 star Maya Erskine was added to the cast in April 2021, per Deadline. Like most other casting notices for the series, her exact role is being kept under wraps. 

Premise/Timeline

When it takes place: Thanks to a handy timeline revealed during the Disney+ panel at the 2019 D23 expo, we know the series will be set during the same time period as Solo: A Star Wars Story, which Lucasfilm describes as being at the end of the Age of Republic, aka the era that leads up to the original film trilogy. A recent episode of The Star Wars Show and StarWars.com revealed even more details about the timing of the series. The story will take place eight years after the events of The Revenge of the Sith, "where we last saw Obi-Wan delivering the infant Luke Skywalker to his Tatooine homestead."

This timing naturally has Star Wars fans buzzing, because Darth Maul, who was seemingly killed when he was cut in half by Obi-Wan at the end of that film, was revealed to be alive in Solo, as had previously been confirmed on the small screen in the Clone Wars series. But could this news mean the character will appear in this Obi-Wan series? One can only hope.

Behind the Scenes

The series is written by a John Wick producer. Variety reported in April 2020 that Joby Harold has been hired to write the show. Harold takes over for Hossein Amini, who departed in January 2020. This marks Harold's first time writing for a TV show. He previously produced the third John Wick film and wrote Zack Snyder's Army of the Dead.

Deborah Chow directs. In Sept. 2019, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Chow, who also directed two episodes of Disney+'s The Mandalorian, would direct the show. It is unclear if she'll be helming the entire series or individual episodes only.

Ewan McGregor was in talks for the series for years. It was huge news when Disney announced McGregor would reprise his role in the series, but it turns out he'd been on board for four years before the announcement was made. During those years, McGregor said he had to lie about his involvement every time someone brought it up.

"It's awkward," McGregor said when he was a guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. "The studio and the franchises, they want to keep everything totally secret, of course, which I understand, but as the person being asked over and over and over again, 'Would you do it again?' And I'm already talking to them about it, but I can't say that I am... For four years, I was saying, 'Well I'd be happy to do it again! I'm just waiting for the call.' But all the while — it was embarrassing!"

How to Watch

Obi-Wan Kenobi premieres Friday, May 27 on Disney+. Two episodes of the six-episode limited series will be released on that date, followed by one a week.