The Obi-Wan Kenobi series is still a long way off, set to premiere on Disney+ at some time in 2022. Still, with Obi-Wan being such a fascinating character in Star Wars lore – and the star of oh so many memes – there has already been a lot of speculation about what form the show will take. We don’t yet know how it will tie in to both the Obi-Wan movies and the current shape of Star Wars, nor do we know how much inspiration it will take from more modern narratives in the galaxy far, far away. I’m intrigued to see where it goes, but there’s one thing I know for sure – the Obi-Wan Kenobi Series needs to be nothing like The Mandalorian.
Modern Star Wars has already proved, through both The Mandalorian and The Bad Batch, that its storytelling is better suited to small-scale adventures over epic sagas. Obi-Wan Kenobi as a character lends himself to that, and if this is the inspiration it takes from Mando, the show will be all the better for it. But I can't shake the feeling that it’s all a bit of a cash grab. Ewan McGregor once called Star Wars fans "fucking wankers," and claimed to have only ever seen the movie once, detesting the franchise and fanbase as a whole. One expensive divorce later, and it's 'hello there General Kenobi'. Maybe his passion for Star Wars was reignited, maybe the script is dynamite, or maybe it offered him the chance to work with someone he'd been excited about collaborating with his entire life. Or maybe, just maybe, he's doing it for the money.
Related: Star Wars: Visions Makes Me Want The Games To Go Beyond Canon AgainThere's nothing inherently wrong with this. Actors are professionals, and therefore deserve to be paid. Pedro Pascal is brilliant in The Mandalorian, but he's not doing it for free, is he? The problem is it seemed as though The Mandalorian came about organically. They're a hugely compelling group in the movies, but the Fetts are mysterious by design, and so we’ve never had a chance to explore them before. The Mandalorian came out of a desire to tell a new story in an established world, to explore Star Wars from a different angle using a character that felt both familiar and fresh. Obi-Wan Kenobi exists as a series because focus groups told Disney that was what fans wanted.
It's the same reason Disney is churning out live-action remakes of its cartoon classics, and why characters like Cruella are getting origin stories. It doesn't guarantee that it will be terrible – Cruella is decent and Obi-Wan's own Ewan McGregor is a bright spark in Beauty & The Beast – but it does mean it will probably have that 'design by committee' feel, borrowing from things that originally worked to create a Frankensteinian beast.
It's not that The Mandalorian is untouchable, it's just that they're very different shows – or at least, they should be. Mando goes from planet to planet, ostensibly on a quest to rescue and protect the child, but mostly getting into independent scrapes. It's like a video game, bursting with side quests and NPCs and optional objectives. Like much of Star Wars, it's reminiscent of old Westerns, but it also understands contemporary storytelling devices and builds its characters effectively. A Mandalorian game, whether based on Pascal's character or an entirely new one, feels inevitable. If that ever happens, Bryce Dallas Howard, director of the two most compelling Mando eps, needs to be involved – but I digress.
Most television shows are not like video games, and they don't need to be. Even in shows that might make for a strong video game adaptation – like Killing Eve – television shows tell their stories very differently. The Mandalorian goes as close as TV shows ever could, and even then, it's one of the few shows with the structure and story arcs to pull it off successfully. Obi-Wan Kenobi doesn't need to be as dry, drawn out, and exposition heavy as the prequels (please no), but it will need to be more of a typical TV show in order to work. The Boba Fett show? Sure, that can be a little Mando. Fett is a Mandalorian, even if he's not the Mandalorian.
The Mandalorian and Obi-Wan Kenobi exist in the same universe, and that's the only thing they need to have in common. They deal with very different characters, both in terms of their personality and in how well audiences already know them. McGregor is a versatile actor and will no doubt be successful in the role, even if it is just a pay cheque. But the series needs more than just McGregor to be successful. It needs to know exactly where it sits – and does not sit – in the Star Wars canon.
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