The Star Wars Disney+ series are doing a stellar job of bringing fan-favorite characters from the expanded universe into live-action, and now Obi-Wan Kenobi is following that tradition by confirming that the Inquisitors will be the main villains of the series. It’s about time that these imposing, ruthless and fascinating villains get their time to shine in a more mainstream Star Wars project.
Obi-Wan Kenobi is not the first time that the Inquisitors have been utilized within the Star Wars universe, but based on the trailer, it will be their most prominent appearance. There’ve been games, comics, and animated shows — like Star Wars Rebels and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order — that have featured these powerful assassins. The new limited series, however, provides an opportunity to get a more intimate look at the Inquisitorius and how it functions within the Empire.
While other Star Wars media features various Inquisitors, they tend to be side characters alongside more popular characters such as Darth Vader and Ahsoka Tano. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is the most recent example of this trend, with Second Sister very quickly getting sidelined by a certain Sith Lord after being the main antagonist for the entire. The most extensive appearance of the Inquisitors is during the 2017 Star Wars: Darth Vader comic run, which follows the pursuits of Vader and the Inquisitors as they hunt the last remaining Jedi, but at the end of the day it is still a Vader-centric story. Vader will be returning for the new Disney+ series, but it seems like the story will revolve more around the Grand Inquisitor and the new Inquisitor named Reva.
Obi-Wan Kenobi puts the Grand Inquisitor and his Inquisitorius at center stage. It gives the opportunity to further flesh out the Inquisitors as villains on their own and better understand their connection to the greater Star Wars mythos. In the first trailer there are glimpses of the Inquisitor base, Fortress Inquisitorius, and the Inquisitors’ operations during the Jedi hunts, so it’s clear that there will be a lot of focus on how the Inquisitors developed immediately after the Empire’s rise. It will also be great to see how their hunt for Obi-Wan Kenobi might connect or build up to their other exploits within the expanded universe.
There’s a lot about the Inquisitors that the Obi-Wan Kenobi writers can play with and reference throughout the series, such as how the Inquisitors were able to capture force sensitive Padawans like Trilla Suduri. They could explore the tensions between the Inquisitors and Vader that were previously established within the Star Wars comics. There could even be potential intersections with characters like Cal Kestis and Kanan Jarrus, who are hunted by the Inquisitors later in Star Wars canon.
It’s honestly surprising it has taken this long to see the Inquisitors get their live-action treatment, but Obi-Wan Kenobi looks like it is going to rectify that and then some. It’s been established that the various Star Wars Disney+ series have a strong fondness for the comics and animated shows that came before, so thankfully Obi-Wan Kenobi is finally giving these amazing and powerful antagonists the spotlight they deserve.
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