Fans of theStar Warsfranchise have overwhelmingly pined for anObi-Wan Kenobispin-off. After years of teasing,Disney Plusis streaming the new series on July 28, 2025, just two days after the 45th anniversary of the 1977 release of the very first film.
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The series will be helmed by directorDeborah Chow,who impressed Lucasfilm presidentKathleen Kennedywith her workonThe Mandalorian. The series will follow the titular Jedi Master (played byEwan McGregor) and his exploits on Tatooine during his self-imposed exile. As he’s watching over a young Luke Skywalker (Grant Feely), the Empire sets their sights on Kenobi, and he’s off to go on another adventure.
Obi-Wan & His Rat Tail Halve His Enemy
In 1999’s prequel,The Phantom Menace, Jinn (Liam Neeson) and his Padawan Obi-Wan are sent on a secret mission to help resolve a trade war blockading the planet Naboo. Naboo’s Queen, Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman), and her newfound allies, the Gungans (represented by Jar Jar Binks, portrayed byAhmed Best), take on the Trade Federation’s droid army.
Meanwhile, Jinn and Obi-Wan engage Sith Lord Darth Maul and his double-bladed lightsaber. Qui-Gon Jinn is mortally wounded in the battle, fueling Obi-Wan to slice Darth Maul in half and send him to his apparent death.
Obi-Wan Makes A Death Bed Promise
Between rescuing the Queen and returning to Naboo with her to fight the droid army, Jinn, Obi-Wan, and Padmé detoured to Tatooine, where they encountered a young slave boy named Anakin (Jake Lloyd). Qui-Gon Jinn immediately recognizes the Force within Anakin Skywalker, and suspecting he may be the Chosen One, helps him win his freedom.
However, after testing Skywalker, the Jedi Council refuses to train him, fearing that his anger will cloud the Force in him. Jinn is adamant and makes Obi-Wan promiseto train Anakin with his dying breath. Obi-Wan is awarded the rank of Jedi Knight for defeating Darth Maul, and Yoda reluctantly agrees to allow Obi-Wan to train Anakin as his apprentice, hoping that the boy is indeed the prophesied Chosen One destined to destroy the Sith forever and restore balance to the Force.
Obi-Wan Tracks An Assassin
Ten years after the events ofThe Phantom Menace, the Galactic Republic is in crisis. Queen and now Senator Amidala narrowly survives an assassination attempt, and Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi is assigned to track her would-be killer. At the same time, his apprentice Anakin (now played byHayden Christensen) serves as her protector. While Obi-Wan discovers a secret clone army, Anakin falls in love with Padmé, even though Jedi are strictly forbidden to form any attachments.
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Plagued by memories of the mother he left on Tatooine, Anakin finds her just in time for her to die in his arms after being kidnapped and held hostage by Tusken Raiders. In a fit of rage, Anakin slaughters the Raiders, including women and children. After his mother’s funeral, he and Padmé marry in secret. Still, their honeymoon is interrupted by Obi-Wan, who sends an emergency signal about Padmé’s would-be assassin mere moments before being captured.
Obi-Wan Meets The Fett Family
In 2002’s Attack of The Clones, Obi-Wan finds that a bounty hunter named Jango Fett (Temuera Morrison) has been hired as the template for the clone army. Obi-Wan tracks him to Geonosis, where the evil Count Dooku (Christopher Lee) tries to entice Kenobi over to the dark side by revealing the Senate is secretly controlled by a Sith Lord.
Anakin and Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson) arrive to help Obi-Wan escape, but the Jedi are nearly defeated before Yoda (voiced byFrank Oz) shows up in the nick of time, with the Republic’s clone army in tow. Dooku flees, but not before cutting off Anakin’s right arm. Armed with plans for a new weapon, the Death Star, he meets with his master, Darth Sidious (Ian McDiarmid), and the two agree that things are going well. Meanwhile, the Jedi Council, including Yoda, are hesitant to believe Kenobi’s claims about a Sith Lord in the Senate.
Obi-Wan & The Jedi Code
Presumed dead, Darth Maul (voiced bySam Witwer) is discovered half-alive by his brother, Savage Opress (voiced byClancy Brown). They join forces to overthrow and kill Mandalore’s peaceful leader, Duchess Satine Kryze (Anna Graves).
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Satine happens to be Obi-Wan’s secret love and the one who first called him “Ben.” The two met while he was still a Padawan himself, having been assigned to keep her safe during a Mandalorian civil war. They fell in love, and Obi-Wan was prepared to leave the Jedi should she ask him to, but she never did. They parted, each to follow their destiny. Obi-Wan’s memory of his forbidden attachment is likely why he never reported Anakin’s secret marriage. Despite the sacred Jedi code of non-attachment, Obi-Wan wished Anakin the happiness he had been denied.
Obi-Wan & The Fight For Anakin’s Soul
By 2005’sRevenge of the Sith, the Clone Wars have raged on for three years. Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi have been tasked with Palpatine’s rescue from General Grievous’ ship. Anakin decapitates Dooku in the battle and grows closer to Palpatine, despite Obi-Wan’s misgivings.
Fearing for Padmé’s safety during childbirth and being reminded of his failure to save his mother, Anakin is dazzled by Palpatine’s legend of Dark Side powers being used to save people from dying. Of course, such powers cannot be wielded by Jedi. When Obi-Wan kills Grievous, Anakin worries that Palpatine is next, and with him, the secret to saving Padmé and their twins. To save Palpatine, Anakin attacks his own superior, embracing the dark side and becoming Darth Vader.
Obi-Wan Kenobi & The Fatal Blow
Anakin storms the Jedi Temple and leaves a total massacre in his wake, including the temple’s younglings. Obi-Wan confronts him in battle, and their lightsaber fight takes them out near a river of lava. When Anakin’s hubris leads to a mistake in judgment, Kenobi slices off his limbs, sending him sliding down to the lava’s edge. Anakin’s clothing catches fire, and Obi-Wan leaves him to die, unable to strike the fatal blow.
Padmé is whisked off-planet by Obi-Wan, where her twins are successfully delivered just moments before her death. Obi-Wan gives the girl, Leia, to Bail Organa on Alderaan and takes the boy, Luke, to his aunt and uncle on Tatooine to keep them safe. Then Obi-Wan walks off into the desert to hide as one of the fewremaining Jedi after Order 66. Having been rescued by Palpatine and kept alive by his iconic cybernetic life support suit, Anakin learns of Padmé’s death and realizes that he sacrificed everything for nothing.
The Old Man & The Desert: Obi-Wan In Exile
Star Warsfans first met “Ben” Kenobi as an old man played bySir Alec Guinnessin 1977’sStar Wars IV: A New Hope. Ben was a hermit living in the desert of Tatooine, secretly watching over a young Luke Skywalker as he grew up on his aunt and uncle’s moisture farm for the past 20 years. When Luke finds R2-D2 and discovers a message on it destined for an “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” Luke pays a visit to the only Kenobi he knows, the old man in the desert.
R2 contains Death Star plans and a message from Princess Leia, which motivates Obi-Wan into action after 20 years in hiding. Luke begins Jedi training as his true nature is revealed, and Leia is eventually rescued. However, leaving Tatooine with Luke ultimately proves fatal for old Obi-Wan, who sacrificed himself rather nobly to ensure the young Jedi’s survival. Don’t worry about Obi-Wan, though: he continues to haunt Luke, giving him ghostly Jedi advice from beyond the grave.
The Aging Jedi & The Desert: Obi-Wan Is Broken
The newObi-Wan KenobiDisney Plus series lures Ewan McGregor back into the titular role, with events taking place about midway between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. Obi-Wan is still hiding on Tatooine from the Great Jedi Purge, and the Empire is at the height of its power. The few remaining Jedi are still being hunted, and no one wants to see them extinct more than Darth Vader himself.
This Obi-Wan Kenobi is one fans of the live-action films may be unfamiliar with. Already a decade into his exile, he’s spent the time stewing on some pretty traumatic events, including the fall of his apprentice to the dark side and the deaths of nearly all of his brethren, not to mention the crippling guilt from having left his Padawan for dead. This Obi-Wan is a broken man.
Someone’s Still Hunting Jedi
Joel EdgertonandBonnie Piessereturn as Luke’s aunt and uncle, andKumail Nanjiani,Benny Safdie,Maya Erskine, andO’Shea Jackson Jr.all have undisclosed roles. Fans, however, suspect Nanjiani may be a fellow Jedi temporarily visiting Tatooine and attracting unwanted attention from the Inquisitors.
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Most importantly, Hayden Christensen also returns to the series as Darth Vader. Vader’s specialized Jedi hunters are led by the Grand Inquisitor (Rupert Friend) and include both Fifth Brother (Sung Kang) and Third Sister, also known as Reva (Moses Ingram), among ten force-sensitive assassins. And yes, Obi-Wan will once again go lightsaber to lightsaber with his former apprentice-turned-enemy, one last great battle before their climactic Death Star duel.
