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In recent years, Star Wars fans have been divided on just about every aspect of the franchise. While debates over the Ewoks date back to the 1980s, the “galaxy far, far away” really polarized its fan base with George Lucas’ prequel trilogy. Even then, most could agree Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan Kenobi was a bright spot. And with his return to the saga on the Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi, fans once again find themselves arguing over what the show is actually about.

Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi
Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) in Lucasfilm’s Obi-Wan Kenobi, exclusively on Disney+. | 2022 Lucasfilm Ltd./Disney+

‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ re-enters the realm of the Skywalker saga

Fans today forget McGregor was an unexpected choice for Obi-Wan in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. At the time, the actor was best known for movies like Trainspotting. But over the course of the prequels, he more than won fans over. And once Disney’s acquisition of Lucasilm in 2012 made it clear Star Wars was back, it didn’t take long for fans to want McGregor to continue his character’s journey after Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith.

For years, rumors circulated about a McGregor-led Obi-Wan Kenobi movie. And finally, Lucasfilm announced his involvement in a Disney+ limited series centered on the Jedi Master in 2019. Ironically, Obi-Wan Kenobi marks the biggest re-entrance into the Skywalker saga since 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker. In addition to McGregor, the show features Hayden Christensen as Darth Vader. But he’s not the only Skywalker who plays a pivotal role in the series.

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The last time fans saw McGregor’s Obi-Wan Kenobi, he was settling in on Tatooine to watch over Luke Skywalker from afar. And since Alec Guinness’ Obi-Wan is still very much a resident of that desert planet in A New Hope, many fans assumed the events of Obi-Wan Kenobi would stay close to Tatooine or, at the very least, focus on Luke Skywalker. Wrong on both counts. 

As IndieWire and many other outlets reported, Obi-Wan Kenobi does the exact opposite of this. Not only is the show a galaxy-spanning manhunt with Vader and the Inquisitors hot on Kenobi’s trail. But the series pairs McGregor with co-star Vivien Lyra Blair as a young Leia Organa. Star Wars fans are, once again, divided over the saga’s decision to subvert their expectations.

How will ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ change the rest of the saga?

Ever since The Last Jedi delivered a very different version of Luke Skywalker than they expected, some fans have been very sensitive about how the Star Wars saga treats the Skywalker twins. And the presence of Leia as a child has seemingly set them off again, with accusations that Obi-Wan Kenobi is directly contradicting elements of the movies.

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While the Disney+ series has put the original trilogy in a new context, it hasn’t outright retconned anything. Instead, much like Rogue One, it intends to add depth and meaning to moments in A New Hope that many fans never thought twice about. Of course, with the show still not finished with its six-episode run, there’s no telling where McGregor and company might take fans.

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