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Tag: Obi-Wan Kenobi

  • Hayden Christensen on Preparing for His Return in ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’

    Hayden Christensen on Preparing for His Return in ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’

    While everyone was excited about Ewan McGregor‘s return as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the upcoming Disney+ series, many were caught off-guard when it was revealed that he’ll also be joined by Hayden Christensen. Not only that but shortly after it was confirmed that he’ll also return in the Ahsoka series as well. So, it’s a grand return for the actor that played Anakin Skywalker in the prequel trilogies. In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, he revealed how he prepared for the role after 17 years.

    It seems he really did his homework as the actor revisited not only all the films but also watched The Clone Wars and Rebels animated series, which were quite important to develop his character even after he hung up the mantle. Perhaps it also was what inspired him to join Ahsoka to get involved with the story introduced in the animated series.

    I went back and rewatched all the films,” says the man who will be once again going behind the mask as Darth Vader. “And I also got into the animated shows, The Clone Wars and Rebels.

    Hayden Christensen

    It’s great to see his commitment not only to bringing this franchise to life but generally how much work he’s put in to prepare for his return. We have been teased that he’ll be in the series as Darth Vader, but there’s always a chance that they might use flashbacks to also revisit scenes between Anakin and his former master. Perhaps Ahsoka Tano even gets a cameo in the upcoming series.

    Source: Entertainment Weekly

  • Writers Revealed for ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’s First 5 Episodes

    Writers Revealed for ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’s First 5 Episodes

    We just got the news that Obi-Wan Kenobi will premiere on Disney+ on a Friday rather than the usual Wednesday. Not only that, but it’ll also offer us two episodes similar to the premiere o Hawkeye. Similar to what happened with Moon Knight a couple months ago, we also got the list for Moon Knight‘s writers but with one different. We’ve heard that the Star Wars series will consist of six episodes yet there are only five listed so far by the Writers Guild of America West:

    • Episode 1 – Joby Harold, Hossein Amini, and Stuart Beattie (based on a story by Stuart Beattie and Hossein Amini)
    • Episode 2 – Joby Harold (based on a story by Stuart Beattie and Hossein Amini)
    • Episode 3 – Joby Harold & Hannah Friedman, Hossein Amini and Stuart Beattie
    • Episode 4 – Joby Harold & Hannah Friedman
    • Episode 5 – Joby Harold & Andrew Stanton

    The name that stands out is Joby Harold, who is also a producer on the Disney+ series. He’s also taken a similar role for other projects which includes John Wick: Chapter 3: Parabellum, the upcoming Transformers: Rise of the Beasts film, and more. He’s also worked on the screenplay for Army of the Dead and the previously-mentioned Transformers film. Iranian screenwriter Hossein Amini was involved with The Alienist, 47 Ronin, and 2011’s Drive.

    Stuart Beattie might be known for creating the story of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, 30 Days of Night, and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. Writer Hannah Friedman has been involved with a variety of projects and was a feature writer of the Pixar Braintrust and Disney Feature Animation. She is currently co-executive producing the upcoming Willow series. Last, but not least, is Andrew Stanton, who is another Pixar veteran that was the writer for the original 1995 Toy Story, worked on Wall-E, and the upcoming Lightyear.

    Source: WGA

  • ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Gets New D+ Premiere Date, 2 Episode Debut

    ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Gets New D+ Premiere Date, 2 Episode Debut

    It was almost two months ago that Lucasfilm announced that the Obi-Wan Kenobi limited series would be premiering on May 25, 2022. This would mean missing out on May 4, Star Wars Day, while still landing the show’s premiere on a relevant Star Wars date, as the original Star Wars feature film premiered on May 25, 1977.

    This has now changed as Obi-Wan himself, Ewan McGregor, announced that the premiere has been delayed a couple of days to the 27th, probably hinting at a weekly Friday release for the Deborah Chow directed series. But perhaps the biggest piece of news is that audiences worldwide will be greeted with a two-episode premiere, something Disney+ has done quite a few times, especially with Marvel Studios releases. While not being a huge shift, it allows Disney to circumvent the situation of having live-action series from two of its biggest franchises releasing on the same day. Marvel Studios’ Ms. Marvel has a June 8 premiere date meaning that had Kenobi kept its Wednesday slot, by its third week Kamala Khan would be joining the Wednesday party and eventually hurting both series’ numbers.

    Obi-Wan Kenobi will mark the return of the aforementioned McGregor to the role, as well as see the return of both Hayden Christensen and Joel Edgerton to roles last played in Revenge of the Sith.

    Source: Twitter

  • Lucasfilm Executive Denies That Darth Maul Was Scrapped From ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’s Earlier Drafts

    Lucasfilm Executive Denies That Darth Maul Was Scrapped From ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’s Earlier Drafts

    Just yesterday The Hollywood Reporter posted a story detailing some creative issues that went on behind the scenes during the development of the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series. They reported that Darth Maul was originally set to be the main protagonist and that actor Ray Park was initially set to reprise his role as the fan-favorite character. Yet, it seems that an executive denounced this report. Bespin Bulletin provided a screengrab of a tweet from Pablo Hidalgo, a Lucasfilm Creative Executive, quoting a tweet regarding the report and denying it, stating that “A brown sun rises. Bullshit has been spilled“.

    The report detailed that the Kenobi series saw a total creative overhaul when its core storyline seemingly was too similar to The Mandalorian. That led to Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni‘s involvement with the latter recommending the addition of the Inquisitors and Darth Vader. Maul being part of the series would’ve been an odd addition considering the story between him and Kenobi was concluded in Star Wars: Rebels. Vader and the Inquisitors make more sense, as it not only fits the timeline but there also has been hinted at that Kenobi and Vader had faced each other before their final confrontation in A New Hope.

    Obi-Wan Kenobi is set to stream on Disney+ on May 25th and will feature the return of Ewan Mcgregor as the titular character. The series was directed by Deborah Chow and written by Joby Harold.

    Source: Bespin Bulletin

  • ‘Creepshow’s Grant Freely Cast as a Young Luke Skywalker

    ‘Creepshow’s Grant Freely Cast as a Young Luke Skywalker

    In a recent article by The Hollywood Reporter, we learned about how much the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series has changed since its earlier stages with Darth Maul being completely written out of the show at some point. Sneakily hidden away in the article is the reveal of the actor playing a young Luke Skywalker. The first trailer did give us a first look at the character, who was pretending to be flying or pod racing yet we never learned the name of the young actor taking on the role. Well, it turns out it is Grant Freely, whose only other credit was an episode of Creepshow.

    It’s great to see such young talent get a shot at playing some iconic roles. WandaVision also gave two young up-and-coming actors a chance at tackling some iconic roles. We still don’t know that much about the story of the sequel, but the article by The Hollywood Reporter did hint that he was initially going to protect Skywalker from Darth Maul, who returned to take his vengeance on Obi-Wan. They’ve seemingly moved away from that initial storyline due to too many similarities with The Mandalorian, who also took inspiration from Lone Wolf and Cub. We’ll see if Luke has any roll at all in the story, or simply was teased to remind people why Kenobi is on Tatooine once it releases late May.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • Darth Maul May Have Been Written Out of ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’

    Darth Maul May Have Been Written Out of ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’

    Here’s a rather surprising drop, but it looks like Darth Maul was originally going to appear in the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series. The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that Ray Park was actively preparing to play the role. Yet, it seems that as part of an overhaul of the project, he was written out only for Darth Vader and other antagonists, very likely the many Inquisitors we’ve seen in the first trailer, to get added. It seems that he had a role in Hossein Amini’s original scripts before Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau supervised the scripts and feared some overlap with The Mandalorian.

    The role given to Maul was him chasing down Kenobi trying to hide a very young Luke Skywalker. It seems they wanted showrunner Deborah Chow to “go bigger” with the project before Kathleen Kennedy got involved to ensure they’d rework it. They even found a young Skywalker actor who didn’t end up getting to film any scenes. Supposedly, some footage has been filmed with Park as test footage, but he was definitely set to return before getting written out. It seems that it was Filoni‘s idea to focus strongly on the Rebels’ Grand Inquisitor and Vader as part of the series.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’: Kathleen Kennedy Hints at Talks for a Potential Season 2

    ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’: Kathleen Kennedy Hints at Talks for a Potential Season 2

    After a long wait, we finally got the first trailer for the next Star Wars Disney+ series, Obi-Wan Kenobi. For quite some time, the project was described as a limited series but it seems that something may have changed at some point. Lucasfilm CEO Kathleen Kennedy has hinted in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that there have been talks for a potential Season 2 to further explore the character’s time before the events of A New Hope.

    It’s certainly something we talk about… We’d have to really answer the question why?

    Kathleen Kennedy

    There’s still some time until the series releases on Disney+, but if there are already talks now we’ll see if the story keeps the door open once it wraps up its episode count. The introduction of the Inquisitors into live-action does open up a lot of different storylines, and we might get some connective tissue between Obi-Wan Kenobi and his eventual return in Rebels to face off against Darth Maul for one last time. As we still have to wait until the end of May, we’ll have to wait for an official confirmation.

    Source: Entertainment Weekly

  • First Look at Hayden Christensen’s Return as Darth Vader in ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’

    First Look at Hayden Christensen’s Return as Darth Vader in ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’

    We’ve known for a while that Darth Vader was making his grand return in Obi-Wan Kenobi. Yet, it wasn’t just any version of the character but actor Hayden Christensen returning to the role. There have been many teases that he’ll once again face off against his former master in the series, and luckily Entertainment Weekly offered a first look at the character’s return. While it is definitely Christensen behind the mask as teased, the first look is keeping him mostly in the shadows highlighting the danger he represents, as also highlighted by the Disney+ series writer Joby Harold.

    His shadow is cast across so much of what we do. And the degree of his proximity to that shadow is something that we’ll discover. But he is very much a part of the show emotionally for Obi-Wan, and possibly beyond that as well

    Joby Harold
    Obi-Wan Kenobi

    There’s just something magical about the design of Darth Vader that doesn’t need to change and still remains menacingly. It’s unclear if this shot was just for a photoshoot or is part of the series, but he still remains one of the most menacing villains in pop culture history. We’ll see just what Christensen will bring to the role, as after being asked if we’ll see his face, the actor only teased that he has to keep secrets.

    Source: Entertainment Weekly

  • First ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Trailer Offers First Look at the Grand Inquisitor

    First ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Trailer Offers First Look at the Grand Inquisitor

    Just earlier today, we got the tease that the Grand Inquisitor would make his live-action debut in the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series. Surprising many, the Annual Shareholder Meeting randomly dropped the first trailer for the Disney+ Star Wars series. Not only that, but it even included our first look at the live-action adaptation of the Grand Inquisitor, who looks ready to face Obi-Wan Kenobi at some point in the series.

    He certainly looks quite a bit different from the animated project, but it makes sense given that it’s difficult to translate some designs from one medium into the other. Cad Bane, Bo Katan, and Ahsoka worked quite well with some adaptations. The closest comparison would be Bane, whose face has also been widened in live-action yet he is mostly CG and prosthetics.

    The Grand Inquisitor still has an intimidating aura that’ll likely be at full force. He also seems to be visiting Tatooine, which might hint at him chasing down the former Jedi Master after he comes out of hiding Whatever drags him to town, it’s going to be quite interesting to see how they tackle the character in live-action.

    You can watch the full trailer right here:

    Source: YouTube

  • First Look at Ewan McGregor and Joel Edgerton’s Return in ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi

    First Look at Ewan McGregor and Joel Edgerton’s Return in ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi

    While we’re still anxiously awaiting a trailer, it looks like we finally got our first look at the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi Disney+ series. Entertainment Weekly offered a first look at the series, which not only included the confirmation of an INquiistor but also our first look at Ewan McGregor back in the titular role. The actor does tease however that we’re about to meet a very different man from the prequels.

    We find Obi-Wan at the beginning of our story rather broken, and faithless, and beaten, somewhat given up.

    Ewan McGregor
    Obi-Wan Kenobi

    So, it sounds like we’ll get a more intimate story with the Disney+ series that promises to fully explore what the Jedi Master had to go through after the Empire took over, while still keeping a close eye on a young Luke Skywalker.

    Obi-Wan Kenobi

    He’s not the only returning face, as Joel Edgerton is also going to reprise his role as Uncle Owen, which he briefly played in the prequel trilogy. Deborah Chow, the series’ showrunner had some high praise to give for the actor, who is seen below facing off with the Inquisitor.

    Obi-Wan Kenobi

    The article also hints that the Grand Inquisitor will appear in the series alongside a young Luke Skywalker. To be fair, the latter was to be expected with the return of Uncle Owen. It’s unclear if we’ll actually see him interact with Obi-Wan Kenobi but given how much he changed between this series and A New Hope, who knows if he forgot what the Jedi master looked like. We know he won’t be showing off his lightsaber in front of a young Luke, but the arrival of the Inquisitor might be what forces him to leave Tatooine behind for some time.

    Source: Entertainment Weekly