Imagine a Star Wars movie in which there are no wars that take place in the stars. It sounds slightly insane, but if an Obi-Wan Kenobi standalone movie really happens, it could be the first film in the space saga to not take place in outer space. And there are two good reasons for that.
First, if the film takes place between Episode III and Episode IV, then Obi-Wan is supposed to be on Tatooine the entire time. Sure, it’s possible something else could be going on in the galaxy that audiences glimpse, but maybe not. If Obi-Wan was serious in his pledge to watch over young Luke Skywalker, then leaving Tatooine would be a dereliction of that duty. In other words, if the movie stays with Old Ben’s point-of-view for the entire film, he probably won’t get off the planet.
Second, Obi-Wan Kenobi — for some reason — really dislikes space travel. He mentions that he “hates flying” while battling Jango Fett in an asteroid field in Attack of the Clones. And at the beginning of Revenge of the Sith, while piloting his Jedi Starfighter, he says dismissively, “flying is for droids!” Would Obi-Wan prefer self-driving spaceships?
If the Obi-Wan movie doesn’t have any space travel in it, certain fans could possibly claim it’s not a real Star Wars movie. But, then again, the point of these standalone films is — in theory — to do something different with the franchise. If Star Wars is going to really take risks with its subject matter, then maybe the best thing an Obi-Wan movie could do is to ground its characters. Literally.
As of this writing, there is no release date or confirmation for the Obi-Wan movie.
