While like many I was enamored with Disney+'s The Mandalorian, if I'm being honest I liked it rather than loved it. This had much less to do with the plot and visuals (which were good) and everything to do with how I like my STAR WARS. Aside from a tall glass of blue milk I like my STAR WARS with a big ol' helping of Jedi, a side of the Force, and a lightsaber souffle. (Yes, I'm fully aware the Force featured in The Mandalorian and we got the dark saber in the final episode.) That's essentially why I'm more excited for the Obi-Wan series on Disney+.
Unfortunately for Obi-Wan fans like myself, we were hit with some disappointing news yesterday. Reports came in that the Obi-Wan series was put on indefinite hold due to Kathleen Kennedy's unhappiness with the script. The crew at Pinewood Studios in London was sent home and reports projected production kicking off this summer.
Amid all these reports however, the one person the public hadn't heard from on the matter was the Jedi Master himself – Ewan McGregor. However that situation changed last night at the world premiere of BIRDS OF PREY. Speaking to comicbook.com McGregor was asked directly about the delay and had this to say:
"It just slipped to next year, that's all.The scripts are really good. I think that so now that Episode IX came out and everyone at Lucasfilm's got more time to look to spend on the writing, they felt like they wanted more time to write the episodes. I read about 80-90 percent of what they've written so far and it's really, really good. And instead of shooting this August, they just want to start shooting in January, that's all. It's nothing more dramatic than that. It often happens in projects, they just wanted to push it to next year."
Although Ewan McGregor is absolutely correct when he talks about projects getting delayed (see MAD MAX: FURY ROAD for reference), one thing that confuses me about his statements. If McGregor has read 80-90% of the scripts and they are "really, really good," why are they rewriting them? It doesn't seem to make sense to me. In addition, if it really is Kathleen Kennedy behind this as reports claim, I highly question her judgment on what constitutes a good STAR WARS story based on the recently leaked unused Episode IX Colin Trevorrow script. However, the situation like most things in life is probably more nuanced and gray than black and white.
Ewan McGregor also added that the delay in filming shouldn't affect the release date. Whether or not this is true is debatable, considering Disney never provided an official one. Furthermore, in regards to the reports that the show had been shortened from six to four episodes, McGregor claimed he hadn't heard anything in regards to that.
The further adventures of Obi-Wan Kenobi has certainly had a bit of a rocky road. The concept was originally supposed to be a feature film. However, that situation changed after the poor box office performance of SOLO. In addition, McGregor had to keep the information about the Kenobi project under his Jedi robe for four years. Hopefully, this is just another bump in the road and we will eventually get a quality story about the further adventures of the Jedi Master. In all honesty I'd rather them delay the series and get it right then to rush it and have a bad STAR WARS story. In the meantime STAR WARS fans have the second season of The Mandalorian to look forward to and a Cassian Andor series on the way.
So what do you guys think about this news? Do you believe Ewan McGregor? When do you think the Obi-Wan Kenobi series will actually release? Let us know in the comments below.