My “General” thoughts on the Obi-Wan Kenobi Teaser

"I felt a great disturbance in the Force. As if millions of Star Wars fans cried out in excitement, and were suddenly silenced. I feel something amazing has happened." 

 It has been 45 years since the first "Star Wars" was released. Before it was called "A New Hope", and it was just called "Star Wars". The first of soon to be eleven films, countless shows, novels, and spin-offs. Written and Directed by George Lucas, "Star Wars" was full of unforgettable heroes, villains, and aliens. One of the most memorable heroes was the Jedi Master himself, Obi-Wan Kenobi. 

Played by the legendary Alec Guiness, who received an Oscar Nomination. Making him the only actor in the entire Star Wars Saga to be nominated for an Oscar for acting. (Mark Hamill, Frank Oz, Ian McDiarmid, Ewan McGregor, and Adam Driver were snubbed!) In the Prequels, Obi-Wan was played by Ewan McGregor. 

While the Prequels reception was lackluster (putting it nicely) compared to the Original Trilogy's universal acclaim, one thing everyone agreed on was that Ewan McGregor was perfectly cast as young Obi-Wan Kenobi. He had the sam ewarmth, the same charisma, the same wit, and the same presence. When you see Ewan McGregor in inerviews, it's hard not to see him as anyone else other than Obi-Wan Kenobi. 

 When Disney bought Lucasfilm in 2012,they not only announced a new Star Wars trilogy, but also spin-off films of supporting characters. And the one spin-off all Star Wars fans wanted the most.... was Max Rebo! Oh, and also Obi-Wan Kenobi. 

 After the box office disappointment of Solo: A Star Wars Story, and with the success of The Mandalorian on Disney+, Star Wars has moved away from movies and towards streaming shows for the time being. Which might actually hellp Star Wars in the long run. I'm still hoping to one day walk to the movie theaters to buy a ticket for a new Star Wars movie some day in the future. But I also love The Mandalorian, The Clone Wars, Rebels, and I even liked The Book of Boba Fett. (Yeah I said it!). 

George Lucas always wanted to make a Star Wars tv show. In fact, the nine part Saga is like one big TV show. Which is why each movie has "Episode" in the title. So seeing Star Wars be mostly streaming shows makes it feel like the circle is now complete. 

 Since they announced Obi-Wan would be getting his own TV show, played once again by Ewan McGregor, fans were hyped. And when we heard Hayden Christensen would be coming back to play Anakin, fans were even more hyped! And when we heard there would be a rematch between Obi-Wan and Darth Vader... We were mixed. 

 The duel between Anakin and Obi-Wan is the best, most badass lightsaber duel in Star Wars history. The visuals, the choreography, the acting, the music by John Williams... All mixed together to create the greatest duel ever put to film. 

And when Darth Vader says “I sense something. A presence I have not felt since….” Our first thought is that epic lightsaber duel on that lava planet. But now when we hear him say that, it really means another fight they had that you can now watch on Disney+. Having them fight again is risky. It could potentially cheapen their emotional final fight in A New Hope. But there’s no such thing as bad ideas. Just bad execution. And we won’t know how we feel about their rematch until we see it. Or see any of this. All we needed was a trailer.

Waiting for the trailer has felt like forever. It’s made us all age faster than Obi-Wan on Tatooine. 

But after years and years of waiting, it’s finally here! And it’s even better than we could have hoped!

We open on a desert planet. Which we all know is Tatooine. A planet full of sand. It’s coarse, rough, irritating, and it gets everywhere. 

We see Obi-Wan riding a camel. Which gives a “Lawrence of Arabia” feel. One of the movies that inspired Lucas while making Star Wars. Plus, Alec Guinness was in it! 

We hear Obi-Wan say “The fighting is over. We lost. Stay hidden.” Their Side, the Republic won. But it was the wrong side. It was the Empire all along. The Jedi not only lost the war, and their lives. They lost their own soul. They lost their way. You feel the weight of that loss in McGregor’s delivery. 

We then see the Lars’ homestead. We see Owen and Beru working, and we a little boy on the roof pretending he’s a pilot.

Obi-Wan is watching this boy through binoculars. That little boy is Luke Skywalker, son of Anakin Skywalker. So many thoughts racing in his head. “This boy is like his father…. And it is up to me, and his aunt and uncle, to make sure he does not go down the same path.” Obi-Wan knows Luke  has an incredible destiny to become a Jedi like his father and save the galaxy. Not only is this boy’s future in Obi-WAN’s hands, but also the fate of the whole galaxy.

We then see the Lucasfilm logo turn to dust, as if Thanos just snapped his fingers. And we hear “Duel of Fates” playing. John Williams is the greatest film composer of all time. I am so excited to see him coming back for what May just be his last time composing music for Star Wars. John Williams has been there since the beginning. Just like Obi-Wan. In many ways, John Williams is the Obi-Wan Kenobi of film composers. 

John Williams introduced audiences to Obi-Wan with his music. It is only fitting he return to write music for Obi-WAN’s own series, 45 years after his introduction. 

I have seen John Williams in concert three times. And it is always an unforgettable experience. I plan to go to as many of his concerts for as long as he does them. And I highly recommend you do too. You don’t want to miss seeing the Legend perform live. 

John Williams is the Man. That is all.

We then see the Inquisitor, played by Rubert Friend. For those of us who watched Rebels, the Sith sent out Inquisitors across the galaxy to hunt down the remaining Jedi. Because Darth Vader can’t be everywhere at once. The Inquisitor was the main antagonist of Season 1. And he looks absolutely terrifying in live action.

We see dangling legs in front of a crowd, which looks like a public hanging by the Empire. Owen Lars is in the crowd watching the horrors of the Empire first hand. He’s thinking “Yeah. My Nephew is not leaving this planet. He’s gonna stay and be a farmer where it’s safe!”

Yeah, about that….

What’s interesting is we don’t see Darth Vader anywhere. Which I’m glad. Darth Vader is the most iconic villain in movie history. You don’t want to use him up in the trailers. It’s good to keep the audience on their toes in suspense. It makes his reveal all that more impactful. 

I am also so glad Hayden Christensen is coming back to play Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader. Hayden Christensen got way too much unnecessary push back from critics and fans. But I thought he did a great job. The problem was the dialogue and direction. George Lucas is probably the greatest storyteller of our time. But even he would admit he’s not the best at directing or screenwriting. Had Ron Howard or Steven Spielberg, or a new fresh independent director directed the movies and wrote the dialogue instead, I think Hayden would have done so much better. 

The Kenobi series is being directed by Deborah Chow, who directed many of the best episodes of The Mandalorian. I cannot wait to see what she does with Obi-Wan. And I know she will help Hayden deliver the performance he was born to give. 

So these are my general thoughts on Obi-Wan Kenobi. This is honestly the best Star Wars trailer I have seen in a long time. In a fandom as divided as the Star Wars fandom, it’s so cool to see all of us be excited for the same thing for once. This is my favorite part of being a Star Wars fan. Having passionate discussions with each other about things we are excited about. It’s days like today that remind me why I love being a Star Wars fan. And I hope it is for you too. 

2022 is shaping up to be a great year for Star Wars fans. The Force is with us.

This is where the fun begins.