Obi-Wan Kenobi: Kumail Nanjiani Talks Potential Star Wars Future

Kumail Nanjiani discusses his possible future in a galaxy far, far away following his debut in the upcoming Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Obi-Wan Kenobi: Kumail Nanjiani Talks Potential Star Wars Future

Kumail Nanjiani talks about his Obi-Wan Kenobi character’s potential future following the upcoming Star Wars television series. Set 17 years after defeating his fallen pupil on Mustafar in Revenge of the Sith (2005), Ewan McGregor is set to reprise his titular role in Disney+’s Obi-Wan Kenobi. The series picks up 10 years after the fall of the Galactic Republic, with “Ben” Kenobi watching over a young Luke Skywalker on Tatooine—a situation that is complicated by Darth Vader’s (Hayden Christensen) band of Inquisitors as they hunt for Jedi who managed to survive Order 66.

In addition to returning legacy characters like Obi-Wan, Anakin Skywalker/Vader, Uncle Owen (Joel Edgerton), Aunt Beru (Bonnie Piesse), and the live-action debut of the Grand Inquisitor (Rupert Friend), the limited series will introduce brand new characters in Reva the Third Sister (Moses Ingram) and a con man played by comedian turned blockbuster movie star, Nanjiani. Following his brief appearance in Obi-Wan Kenobi’s second trailer, Nanjiani revealed details about his character. He explained his character’s name is Haja and a grifter – ala a young Han Solo – from the planet Daiyu, which is inspired by Hong Kong. Despite the small-time crook’s desire to avoid attention, Obi-Wan Kenobi will draw him into a larger conflict within the galaxy far, far away.

In a recent interview with EW, Nanjiani discussed how much fun he had breathing life into his Star Wars character. He also expressed a desire to reprise the role after Obi-Wan Kenobi because of what Haja brings to the franchise. Read the full quote about Nanjiani’s potential Star Wars future below:

“It’s all I’ve thought about. I don’t know what that does, but yeah, I would love to play this character again. Not just because of Star Wars, but it’s a really, really, really fun character to play. I’ve never gotten to play a character like this before. I think it’s a type of character that we haven’t exactly seen in Star Wars either — with a con man, you know?”
“He can talk people into stuff, so that’s a really fun character to play. And I actually did a lot of research online on con men, and on magicians, too. Because magicians, let’s face it, they’re kind of like a con man, right? They’re tricking people. So, I really looked up a lot of stuff about that to learn how to really play a character like this. And I love this character so much. It would be genuinely a dream come true to play him again. Can we get [Lucasfilm president] Kathleen Kennedy on here?”

As was the case with The Mandalorian’s Din Darjin (Pedro Pascal) or Grogu, sometimes it’s clear when new characters will have significant tenures in future projects in the franchise. Other times, projects like Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) introduces newcomers like Tobias Beckett (Woody Harrelson) and Qi’ra (Emilia Clarke), who add to the canon but have yet to re-appear in live-action. However, these types of characters do appear in Star Wars comics and other novelizations. Whether Haja appears again in live-action entirely depends on the character’s reception and that of Obi-Wan Kenobi at large.

Given Nanjiani’s charisma, Haja will likely be introduced as a fast-talking character who is inadvertently drawn into an unexpected adventure after running into a legendary Jedi Master. Haja’s past remains a mystery. Before Nanjiani revealed his character to be a con man, rumors suggested Nanjiani was playing a Jedi or a former Padawan who survived Order 66. If the latter proves to be the case, and Nanjiani is playing an ex-Force user who’s turned to a life of crime, it would certainly explain how his character is unlike any audiences have seen before. Regardless of whether Kennedy decides to feature Nanjiani in the future, the actor officially becomes a part of two of the biggest franchises in the world—the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Star Wars—when Obi-Wan Kenobi debuts on Disney+ on May 27th.