Obi-Wan Kenobi - Ewan McGregor

Obi-Wan Kenobi – more promotion ahead of the show’s premiere

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On the countdown to Obi-Wan Kenobi this Friday, the show’s cast have been talking… 

Ewan McGregor’s return to his Star Wars prequels Jedi role is almost here; with a double-episode drop, Obi-Wan Kenobi lands at Disney+ this Friday, the 27th of May.

With interest running high, the cast appear to be popping up everywhere to promote the show. There’s even another brief clip on social media, reminding us of the show’s core relationships.

While Obi-Wan watches over young Luke Skywalker from afar, he’s also insistent that the boy be trained. However, Luke’s Uncle Owen is on hand to remind us what happened the last time a Skywalker became a Jedi…

This follows Monday’s earlier teaser trailer on much the same theme, but with added Vader!

Hayden Christensen is Darth Vader

As well as the return of Obi-Wan, the other big draw of this series is the prospect of seeing Darth Vader in action again. As director Deborah Chow pointed out in a recent Gizmodo interview, Obi-Wan believes he killed his former apprentice at the end of Revenge of the Sith. He knows different by time of A New Hope and that revelation drives the show.

With Hayden Christensen returning to the role, he’s given an interesting interview to Entertainment Weekly. In it, he talks about playing Vader, rather than Anakin, and learning to walk in that famous armour; a task that required the help of a movement specialist:

“That was something that we spent a lot of time working on and this suit really just informs the way you move.”

One thing still unannounced is the question of who’s voicing Darth Vader, but Christensen sheds no further light on it. Elsewhere, in The Guardian, the actor has tackled some of the criticisms of his prequels role (and the dialogue) in a wider profile piece.

Moses Ingram is Reva

In The Independent, there’s a great interview with Moses Ingram who discusses diversity in the Star Wars universe and the depressing realities of social media. Thankfully, she credits director Deborah Chow and Lucasfilm with “putting the proper systems in place so I feel safe as we do the work”.

Obi-Wan Kenobi - Moses Ingram as Reva

Ingram also talks about the secrecy around Obi-Wan Kenobi, training and her wider career – including her roles in The Queen’s Gambit and The Tragedy of Macbeth.

Kumail Nanjiani is Haja

We’ve also loved hearing some of the sheer enthusiasm emanating from Kumail Nanjiani. While we haven’t learned that much about his character, the Eternals star has clearly been having a blast. He tells Entertainment Weekly about Haja:

“He’s this sort of con-man guy who cons people for money. That’s what’s important to him. And then he has a run-in with Obi-Wan and suddenly he sort of gets stuck in the bigger conflicts at play, which is the thing that he really tries to avoid. So he is this street-level con-man guy who then gets embroiled in stuff that’s way too big for him. And he has to make a choice.”

Obi-Wan Kenobi - Kumail Nanjiani as Haja

Nanjiani is clearly a big fan, and still stinging from his mother disposing of his Star Wars figures while he was at college. He also relates how director Deborah Chow didn’t have to work very hard to get him to board the project! If the actor has a say in the matter, it won’t be the last we see of Naja either:

“And I love this character so much. It would be genuinely a dream come true to play him again.”

Obi-Wan Kenobi drops two episodes on Friday, May the 27th. The remaining four episodes will follow on Wednesdays thereafter.