What Will the Obi-Wan Disney+ Series Be About? Here Are 5 Likely Theories

Help us, Ewan McGregor, you’re our only hope! Late Thursday night, news broke that a new streaming Star Wars miniseries on Disney+ will feature the return of Ewan McGregor as Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. Though he was briefly heard as Obi-Wan in The Force Awakens, the last time we saw McGregor in the role was in 2005’s Revenge of the Sith. So, now that it’s nearly been confirmed that he is back for a new Star Wars project as Obi-Wan, what exactly will Obi-Wan be doing in the TV series? How much time will pass during the show? Will other big Star Wars characters appear? It’s time to stretch out with our feelings and try to speculate about the future of the Force!

Based on what we know about Star Wars canon, and considering a few precedents that have happened in recent years, here are five possible ways the Obi-Wan Disney+ show could specifically happen.

Speculative spoilers ahead.

5. Obi-Wan Learning How to Become a Force Ghost From Other Ghosts

Would it be weird if an Obi-Wan miniseries heavily featured the venerable Jedi master being haunted by Force ghosts? Nope! Star Wars canon clearly establishes that during the time between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope (that’s 18 years) is when Old Ben learned the Force Ghost trick from Qui-Gon Jinn. In fact, this plot point is set-up directly by a line of dialogue toward the end of Revenge of the Sith; Yoda outright says Qui-Gon Jinn’s ghost will teach Obi-Wan how to communicate from beyond the grave.

Also, the in-canon short story “Master and Apprentice” by Claudia Gray (in the anthology From a Certain Point Of View) Qui-Gon Jinn’s spirit chills with Obi-Wan in his Tatooine hut for a long time. Obviously, Liam Neeson hasn’t been mentioned for the series yet, but don’t rule it out.

4. Ben Versus the Lars Family

Obviously, Owen and Beru Lars were fully aware of who Obi-Wan Kenobi was and the huge importance of Luke Skywalker when they agreed to raise the baby at the end of Revenge of the Sith. But, by the time of A New Hope, Uncle Owen has basically forbidden Luke to see the “crazy old hermit.” How did this falling out happen?

In March 2016, in issue number 15 of the first run of Marvel’s ongoing Star Wars comic book series, a flashback story depicts exactly why Owen forbids Obi-Wan from seeing young Luke. This kind of family drama would be totally perfect material for the new TV series. Never forget: Luke Skywalker KNOWS Ben Kenobi in A New Hope, he just doesn’t know anything about Kenobi’s secret life. Meaning, the new series could — and should — almost certainly cast a child actor in the role of young Luke Skywalker. Also, back in 2017, actor Joel Edgerton, notable these days for movies like Bright, said he would totally come back Uncle Owen again, a role he first played in Attack of the Clones in 2002.

3. Old Ben Secretly Aids the Rebellion

Just because he was in hiding doesn’t mean that Obi-Wan Kenobi wasn’t helping out the early versions of the Rebel Alliance. In Rebels we learned former Jedi Knight Ahsoka Tano was instrumental in starting the Rebellion, but what about Obi-Wan?

Sure, by the time of A New Hope it seems like he hasn’t done much for the cause, but what about in the early years, right after Revenge of the Sith? The new series could possibly show Obi-Wan on a series of secret missions, provided of course, that he never leaves the planet Tatooine. 

2. A Series That Cover the Entire 18 Years of His Exile

Right now, the rumor about the Obi-Wan series states that it will be about six to eight episodes in total. This means the show won’t be ongoing, but instead, a miniseries chronicling when Ewan McGregor Obi-Wan becomes Alec Guinness Obi-Wan from the classic trilogy. Notably, this has been done in a non-canon Legends book called Kenobi by John Jackson Miller back in 2014, which also covers a decent chunk of Obi-Wan’s life. The point is, the show might tell multiple stories over the span of nearly two decades and could end right before A New Hope begins.

1. A Darth Maul-Centric Arc That Culminates in a Retelling of That Big Rebels Episode

Because the movie Solo teased the return of Darth Maul as a crime boss, it’s interesting to think that an Obi-Wan series might bring Darth Maul back, too. In some ways, prequel-era Obi-Wan’s greatest foe was Darth Maul, specifically because in The Clone Wars, Maul is 100 percent responsible for killing Obi-Wan secret girlfriend, Duchess Satine of the planet Mandalore. (Imagine the flashbacks! We could see a live-action version of Satine if Obi-Wan is thinking about her!)

The point is, in the TV series Rebels Obi-Wan and Darth Maul finally do have one final battle, roughly five years before the start of A New Hope. In that duel, Obi-Wan kills Darth Maul, once and for all, but, the series could play fast and loose with this canon, and possibly have another showdown between Obi-Wan and Darth Maul, much earlier. You never know! Darth Maul was killed the very first time Obi-Wan fought him in The Phantom Menace, but didn’t stop him from fighting Obi-Wan several more times in The Clone Wars.

Either way, because Maul actor Ray Park was very recently in a Star Wars movie, it seems possible he could return to enact his Sith revenge on Obi-Wan, one more time.

An official announcement about the Obi-Wan series release date has yet to be made.