The director of the upcomingObi-Wan Kenobiseries for Disney+ has opened up a bit about their plans for the project. Deborah Chow, who has directed shows such asJessica JonesandBetter Call Saul, was tapped by Lucasfilm to head-up the series, which was confirmed during Disney’s D23 Expo over the summer and will see Ewan McGregor return as the famed Jedi.
Deborah Chowalso directed episodes ofThe Mandalorian, the first ever live-actionStar WarsTV show which debuted with Disney+. The show has been received well by fans and critics so far, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the future of the franchise on the small screen. During a recent interview, Chow had this to say about the Obi-Wan Series.
“There is so much going on between [Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope] that hasn’t been explored. The idea of being able to go into a character journey plus the politics and plus all the vastness of the empire and what’s going on is exciting just because it feels like a proper period of history and sometimes that is hard to do in two hours. Sometimes with two-hour movies there is always an imperative for the action and the plot to move particularly fast and quickly and to go from action sequence to action sequence and there are many more aspects to storytelling that I find interesting.”
Before making its way to Disney+ as a series, this project started life as a movie. Similar toSolo,Ewan McGregorwas supposed to reprise his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi from the prequels in astandalone Star Wars spin-off. However, the lackluster box office performance ofSolocaused something of a shift at Lucasfilm, scrapping those plans.
But out of the ashes came this show. As Deborah Chow explains, they will now have more time to let the story unfold. Little is known about Obi-Wan’s time on Tatooine followingRevenge of the Sithand beforeA New Hope. There is certainly a lot of stories to tell during that time. Speaking further, Chow explained that working with producers Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni onThe Mandalorianhelped her immensely.
“One of the biggest benefits is that I just spent the last year in the Star Wars universe and I had great mentors, coming in under [Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni]. Absorbing that, I feel, was the best training I could have had to take on the next one. So much of it just feeling it and understanding it, on an instinctual level, to know what’s right and what’s wrong with it. And there’s so much knowledge, every prop, every costume is important. Every detail really matters.”
Lucasfilm, additionally, is planning aRogue Oneprequel series centered on Cassian Andor as well asthree more Star Wars Disney+ series. As for the Obi-Wan show, production is expected to take place next year, but no release date has been confirmed as of yet. We’ll be sure to keep you posted as any further details are made available. This news comes to us viaThe New York Times.
