Star Wars
With the advent of new films and exclusive TV series for the Disney + streaming platform, the narrative universe of Star Wars, perhaps the most famous sci-fi franchise in history, is set to expand further. Among these new productions, there is also Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi, the long-awaited Disney + series that will tell us the deeds of one of the most beloved Jedi masters of all time, brought to the big screen by Alec Guinness and Ewan McGregor.Although precise details are not yet known about this new series, we can try to understand something more starting from the statements of some members of the cast. Sung Kang, for example, who currently plays a character still shrouded in mystery, said in an interview with Rotten Tomatoes that the air is truly inspiring on the set. Every member of the crew seems to be saying “I grew up with the adventures of the Star Wars characters, and being part of this new project for me is a real fulfillment of a dream of mine”.
It doesn't matter, apparently, how old can the various employees be, all seem extremely motivated and "devoted to the cause", which will certainly have a positive effect on the final quality of the series. Series that, in itself, tells the life of one of the most beloved characters of the entire franchise.
The Star Wars series: Obi-Wan Kenobi will see the return of Ewan McGregor as the beloved Jedi master, as well as Hayden Christensen as Darth Vader, Joel Edgerton and Bonnie Piesse as Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, and Kumail Nanjiani, Indira Varma, Rupert Friend, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Moses Ingram, Simone Kessell and Benny Safdie to play other characters still unnamed.
According to the first rumors, the Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi series will be set 10 years after the events of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, a cinematic episode that saw the staging of the greatest defeat of the Jedi order in franchise history, culminating in Anakin Skywalker's transformation into Darth Vader.
Star Wars: Visions Includes the First New Star Wars Story Set After Episode 9 (But It Might Not Be Canon)
Star Wars: Visions – the upcoming anime anthology series – will include an episode set after Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker, and explore what happened after the Star Wars sequel trilogy. The big question is whether or not it's canon.
Revealed during a Japanese press conference, director Kenji Kamiyama of Production I.G. discussed his addition to the nine-episode anime series, titled 'The Ninth Jedi'. While we know very little about the specific plot, Kamiyama made clear that it will look into the state of the galaxy far, far away, after the events that saw Rey defeat Emperor Palpatine and rename herself Rey Skywalker.
“I wondered, after Episode IX, has the galaxy settled into peace?', he explained. 'We all love stories of the Jedi and lightsabers, but what became of the Jedi Knights after the movie series? My story is about that.' Kamiyama says he the episode will be a hand-drawn animation depicting 'a galactic-level adventure with a different character.”
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As per Wookieepedia, no canon Star Wars media has tackled what happens after the events of The Rise of Skywalker. Of course, elements of the original Star Wars Extended Universe did stretch far beyond the movies, but were themselves written out of the canon after Disney's series takeover.
However, Lucasfilm hasn't yet confirmed whether any of Visions' episodes will be considered part of the canon storyline. We've learned previously that the creators for each short were told that their storytelling didn't have to fit into the timeline (which probably explains why there's a rock opera featuring Jabba the Hutt), but it remains unclear whether any individual episodes have been deemed part of the official Star Wars story. If it was canon, 'The Ninth Jedi' would become the latest part of the Star Wars timeline.
As for what the story will actually be, at a previous Visions event we learned that 'The Ninth Jedi' began as two separate ideas for Star Wars shorts which were eventually combined into a single idea, described as being on an epic scale, despite the episode-length runtime. According to the Star Wars website, 'One was to be set in a time when Jedi have fallen into legend and need to come back as darkness threatens the galaxy, with the daughter of a lightsabersmith seeking out the Jedi and delivering their weapons. The other story was to be told from the point of view of eight warriors coming together, learning if they are indeed Force sensitive and can trust each other.'
It's not clear exactly how that's shaken out as a single storyline – or whether it's part of the wider Star Wars story – but we'll find out after the series debuts on Disney+ on September 22.
Star Wars: Visions Images
Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.