There will be plenty of lightsaber rattling this Friday when eagerly-awaited Star Wars miniseries Obi-Wan Kenobi finally hits our screens on Disney+.
Ewan McGregor reprises his role as the titular Jedi master, while his former wayward protégé Anakin Skywalker sees Hayden Christensen return to the franchise after last appearing 17 years ago in prequel Revenge Of The Sith.
The new Obi-Wan Kenobi series is set a decade after Sith, with Anakin now fully embracing the dark side following his grim transformation into the evil Darth Vader.
The first two of six episodes will drop on Friday (May 27), with the finale set to air in June.
A recent trailer for Obi, set in the aftermath of the prequel film trilogy, saw our hero keeping a watchful eye on a young Luke Skywalker raised as a child on the sand-swept Tatooine.
Luke’s uncle Owen Lars is spotted in the vicinity of an Inquisitor – lightsaber-toting agents beholden to the Sith-ruled Galactic Empire.
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In a chilling voice-over, Obi-Wan warns ‘they’re coming’ before telling someone off-screen to ‘stay hidden or you will not survive’.
There are than tiny snapshots of the menacing Inquisitors hunting high and low for Kenobi.
Presumably this is at the behest of Darth Vader – who is teased having his armour assembled before his ominously iconic breathing is heard off screen.
Fans will be delighted to see so many familiar faces in the cast, not only Ewan and Hayden but also Joel Edgerton reprising his role as Uncle Owen. Other members include Bonnie Piesse as Beru Whitesun Lars, Owen’s wife and Luke’s aunt.
Youngster Grant Feely appears as the young Luke, while Moses Ingram plays Reva, otherwise known as the Third Sister, an Inquisitor who creator Joby Harold stated would ‘contribute to the legacy of Star Wars villains in a really interesting way’.
British actor Rupert Friend portrays the Grand Inquisitor – who viewers may recognise from the animated Star Wars series The Clone Wars and Rebels, while Indira Varma plays an Imperial officer.
Other cast members in Obi-Wan Kenobi include O’Shea Jackson Jr, Kumail Nanjiani, Benny Safdie, Simone Kessell, Maya Erskine and Rory Ross.
Star Wars really is the franchise that just keeps on giving, with Obi-Wan the latest instalment in a saga that started 45 years ago with the first movie, Star Wars: A New Hope, in 1977.
The global phenomenon starred Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford in their iconic roles as Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia and Han Solo.
Disney+ has a good track record with its Star Wars’ mini-series thus far, with 2019’s The Mandalorian proving both a commercial and critical success and its successor The Book of Boba Fett generally attracting warm reviews.
The omens are good that Obi-Wan Kenobi will be another (inter) stellar success.
