Obi-Wan Kenobi EP On What Sets It Apart From Other Star Wars Series

Obi-Wan Kenobi executive producer and director Deborah Chow reveals what sets the series apart from other shows set in the Star Wars universe.

Obi-Wan Kenobi EP On What Sets It Apart From Other Star Wars Series

Obi-Wan Kenobi executive producer and director Deborah Chow talks about what sets the upcoming miniseries apart from other Star Wars shows. The series is set to premiere on May 30 on Disney+ with a six-episode run planned and Chow directing every episode. Chow had previously directed two episodes of The Mandalorian season 1.

Obi-Wan Kenobi will follow the titular Jedi master ten years after the events of Star Wars: Episode III -Return of the Sith while he watches over a young Luke Skywalker as he grows up on Tattoine, encountering new adventures in the process. Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen are set to star, reprising their roles of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader respectively, and will be joined by cast members Joel Edgerton, Bonnie Piesse, Moses Ingram, and Rupert Friend. There’s much speculation regarding which characters will appear in Obi-Wan Kenobi given its close narrative relationship to the Skywalker Saga.

In an exclusive interview with Screen Rant, Chow talks about how the series sets itself apart from the other live-action Star Wars shows, citing the miniseries structure. She says the limited six-episode story allows for a higher character focus through Obi-Wan’s journey and trauma. She goes on to say the miniseries is able to go much more in-depth with the character than a movie or ongoing series would. Read her quote below:

I think one of the things that was the most special about this series is that we were doing a limited series, and that’s something that they hadn’t done before. And we’re also really focused on one character. So, it was a much more character-driven story that we’ve been trying to tell. For me, I was really excited about the idea of really getting to go deeper into the character, and have the time in the limited series to do it.

What also sets the series apart is its direct relationship to canon, for The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett have only been tangentially related to core Star Wars canon, not spending much time on any major characters from the Skywalker Saga. Obi-Wan Kenobi should give more insight into the events that took place between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. McGregor has also compared Obi-Wan Kinobi to one long movie, echoing Chow when he talks about the contained nature of the narrative and how that benefits the story.

McGregor’s performance is often cited as one of the strongest aspects of the uneven prequel trilogy, giving the audience the closest thing to a protagonist those films have. To make a series that follows the character in the aftermath of Revenge of the Sith seems like an easy win for the Star Wars franchise, giving the character an opportunity to process the collapse of the Jedi Order. In the end, Chow knows how the series sets itself apart, and on May 30, when Obi-Wan Kenobi premieres, audiences will see what sets it apart as well.