Star Wars fans have been looking forward to Lucasfilm’s latest Star Wars streaming series, Obi-Wan Kenobi. The series takes place in the years that exist after the Prequels are complete, but before the Original Trilogy begins. This is ground that really hasn’t been deeply explored by other Star Wars properties.
The Star Wars content that has premiered on Disney+ has been lauded for taking the material in new directions while also tying into the existing canon, and some of the biggest moments in these shows have been cameos and Easter eggs. The inclusion of characters from animated series getting their live-action debuts, such as Bo-Katan and Cad Bane, has particularly driven fan interest.
Obviously, the return of Hayden Christensen as Vader was confirmed before the series and fans got their first glimpse of the character at the end of Part II, so we’re going to speculate about who else we can expect to see interact with Old Ben under the twin suns of Tatooine over the next four episodes.
Snips
One of the most anticipated cameos is the return of Rosario Dawson in the role of Ahsoka Tano. These characters are deeply connected in the Clone Wars animated series, and her introduction in The Mandalorian was so popular that Ahsoka got her own spin-off, which started production recently. The series will be set approximately 10 years after the conclusion of Revenge of the Sith, and according to her time in Star Wars Rebels she was establishing pockets of resistance as the agent codenamed Fulcrum.
Fans who only know her from live-action might not know that Tano never actually became a Jedi because she left the order. There are still gaps to fill in on her journey from padawan to resistance leader to Luke’s assistant in this year’s The Book of Boba Fett. She is very likely to appear in Kenobi.
Lothal Rebels
Obi-Wan Kenobi will take place before the animated Rebels series in the official chronology, so for any characters that make an appearance, it would technically be a prequel to those adventures.
Kanan Jarrus: spent most of this period hiding his force powers from the Empire, so very unlikely to appear here.
Ezra Bridger: he was just a child in Rebels, and lived on Lothal before that show ran, so also unlikely.
Garazeb Orrelios: Zeb was reeling from the loss of his people, the Lasat. His story doesn’t have many connections to the themes that surround Obi-Wan, so also unlikely.
Hera Syndulla: Hera’s family was involved in resisting the Empire on Ryloth when they suffered tremendous personal loss. She was the leader of the Spectre cell of the resistance and was one who had contact with Ahsoka/Fulcrum, so this Twi’lek is a strong candidate for an appearance. Hopefully, she brings along C1-10P/Chopper.
Sabine Wren: Sabine is an intriguing candidate given the popularity of Mandalorians in the live-action series. Sabine is an explosives expert and artist and spent her time before Rebels as a bounty hunter with her friend Ketsu Onyo. They alluded to a darker time in her past, and it would be fun to see her with a little bit of a sharper edge. It would also open the door to her return for the Ahsoka series, as they teamed up in Rebels.
Clones
Part II gave us a brief glimpse of one clone, but the return of others from the Clone Wars series is a possibility. It could complicate things because Temuera Morrison would likely be required to play them, and it might confuse casual viewers to see him back in action in a role other than Boba Fett, but the clone he played in Part II was barely recognizable as Morrison, other than the distinct voice. Captain Rex is a great candidate for a return, as he is seen in Rebels with Wolffe and Gregor as defectors.
Scum and Villainy
Odds are good we will get another banger from the Max Rebo band in a cantina scene. The cantinas are the heart of Tatooine, and often host cameos in the background. Favorite bounty hunters Greedo and Boba Fett, or more obscure ones like Cad Bane and Dengar would be appropriate for brief interactions. Perhaps we will get a glimpse of Jabba on a litter. Scoring Donald Glover for Lando would be a coup but seems unlikely.
A fun option here would be Hondo Ohnaka, a pirate who knows Obi-Wan from the Clone Wars days and goes on to play a role in Rebels. He is an unpredictable mix of soft-hearted and cutthroat and could serve as an ally Kenobi can never quite trust.
The Dark Side
There are some fun candidates amongst those who wield the Dark Side of the Force and could serve as a lead-up to Obi-Wan’s reunion with Anakin. Kenobi has a past with Sith Assassin Asajj Ventress, and though he did not meet her end on-screen, she has a pretty conclusive ending in a 2015 novel. It would be interesting to see if the current leadership feels bound by their other media.
Rebels established that there were Sith devotees who were tasked with hunting the Jedi who evaded the infamous Order 66. These Inquisitors, such as Fifth Brother and Seventh Sister, had some tremendous action scenes and would bring pressure on Obi-Wan to keep his location secret.
The most intriguing option is Darth Maul. He is established in the Clone Wars as being alive at this time, and although we know he has to survive to appear in Rebels, given the way they parted at the end of The Phantom Menace their reaction would surely be explosive.
