With The Book of Boba Fett on Disney+ recently intersecting with the storyline in The Mandalorian, the next question viewers might have is: will the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi also cross over? The series director and her boss have an answer.
Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy points out The Book of Boba Fett takes place during a different era in Star Wars history than the pending series. “All of that falls within The Mandalorian timeline,” Kennedy tells Entertainment Weekly. The Mandalorian takes place approximately five years after 1983’s Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, whereas Obi-Wan Kenobi occurs nearly a decade before 1977’s Star Wars: A New Hope. The time difference equates to roughly 18 years.
Obi-Wan Kenobi director Deborah Chow adds the upcoming series has a different history to draw upon. “The strongest connective tissue for us is to the prequels,” Chow says, “Because that’s where our characters are coming from and that’s where their stories started. So, really, the prequels are the most connected to our series.”
The series does indeed lean heavily on characters featured in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. Hayden Christensen will be returning as Anakin Skywalker, although Christensen’s character has already transformed into the Sith Lord Darth Vader, as seen in 2005’s Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. Joel Edgerton and Bonnie Piesse are also returning as Luke Skywalker’s adoptive parents Owen and Beru Lars. Christensen, Edgerton and Piesse all appeared in Revenge of the Sith as well as 2002’s Star Wars: Attack of the Clones.
While the prequels serve as fertile ground for the upcoming show, Obi-Wan Kenobi is also drawing from the past animated series. Rupert Friend has been cast as the Grand Inquisitor, the supreme Jedi hunter who first appeared in Star Wars: Rebels. Other Inquisitors were later introduced in Rebels, among them the Fifth Brother, who is also featured in Obi-Wan Kenobi, played by Sung Kang.
Rebels takes place a few years before A New Hope, putting it after Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars timeline, meaning the upcoming series will serve as the first chronological appearance of The Inquisitors on the small screen.
One character that could directly connect The Mandalorian to Obi-Wan Kenobi is Ahsoka Tano, the former Jedi padawan introduced in the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars who trained under Anakin. Ahsoka eventually left the Jedi Order but subsequently turned up not only in Rebels, but later made her live action debut on The Mandalorian, played by Rosario Dawson. Additionally, the backstory of The Mandalorian‘s main protagonist, Din Djarin — played by Pedro Pascal — directly ties him to the events of the Clone Wars and, by extension, the prequel trilogy.
Directed by Deborah Chow, Obi-Wan Kenobi premieres May 25 on Disney+.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
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