The first trailer for the new Disney+ limited seriesObi-Wan Kenobiwas released yesterday to much fanfare. The series is bringingEwan McGregorback to Tatooine as the beloved Jedi Master, along with several other actors who have already played roles in the Star Wars galaxy:Hayden Christensenis returning as Anakin Skywalker, now Darth Vader.Joel EdgertonandBonnie Piessewill return as Owen and Beru Lars, Luke Skywalker’s aunt and uncle.
The series will fill in some gaps between the last movie of the prequel series,Revenge of the Sith(2005), and the first of the originalStar Warstrilogy,A New Hope(1977).This is the first series that will extensively explore that 19-year gap between the Clone Wars and Luke’s Jedi training, and while we know who makes it toA New Hope, we don’t know how it will all go down. This trailer offers a first look into Obi-Wan’s endeavors.
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In an ode toStar Wars’iconic story and imagery, the trailer begins with Obi-Wan Kenobi, who has slipped into exile following the Jedis’ defeat in the Clone Wars and his own showdown with his former apprentice, Anakin Skywalker. “The fight is done. We lost,” Obi-Wan laments in a voice-over as he ambles across the familiar sands of Tatooine—the same place whereA New Hopebegins, and the territory of more recentStar Warsshows likeThe MandalorianandThe Book of Boba Fett.
“Stay hidden,” he warns, as the theme fromThe Phantom Menace(1999) begins to play over a shot of a young Luke Skywalker at the Owens’ moisture farm. It’s unclear if Obi-Wan’s advice is a personal reminder or a warning for Luke, but the threat is evident: Darth Vader is looming large while his ten-year-old son plays, oblivious, on Tatooine. Obi-Wan watches little Luke, his brow furrowed and face inscrutable.
We then learn who, specifically, they’re hiding from. The Inquisitors, a new order of villain in theStar Warslive-action installments, are tasked with killing any Jedi who survived Order 66. The Inquisitors aren’t exactly Sith or Jedi, but they’re governed by Darth Vader, and their sole purpose is hunting down anyone with the Force. “The key to hunting Jedi is patience,” the Grand Inquisitor (Rupert Friend) intones in a voice-over as we see a spaceship arriving at an unknown base. It’s a chilling scene after the desert warmth of Tatooine: the Inquisitors' base is stark and imposing, a black monolith thrusting up out of a gray sea. The Grand Inquisitor himself brings the visuals from the animatedStar Wars Rebelsseries to life with a haunting, mask-like face à la Sith lords.
“Jedi cannot help what they are. Their compassion leaves a trail,” the Grand Inquisitor continues. We see confusing footage next: Obi-Wan speeding away aboard a train on Tatooine; in town, Reva (Moses Ingram), one of the black-clad Inquisitors, looking up at the bottom half of a body suspended in midair. Uncle Owen (Joel Edgerton) stands nearby, troubled—then Reva turns to look at him. The implication seems brutally obvious: this is a hanging. The Inquisitors are out for blood, and though she doesn’t look as scary as her leader, Reva might be the one to watch.
In addition to the scenes on Tatooine, the trailer includes several shots on a new planet, Daiyu, whose dark skyscrapers and neon signage loosely evoke Hong Kong. We don’t know much about this place, but its inclusion means the action inObi-WanKenobiwon’t be limited to the Dune Sea, substantiating the notion that Obi-Wan was never really in exile, but on a long-term mission. The first shot on the new planet shows Reva perched on a rooftop, searching for someone. Later, we see another Inquisitor leading Stormtroopers through the streets, and a hooded Obi-Wan moving in the shadows. It seems things will heat up on Daiyu.
That said, Tatooine and the boy who lives there are still vulnerable. Two ambiguous but ominous shots suggest that the Empire is hot on the Jedis’ trail: a black ship lands in the middle of what looks to be a city on Tatooine, maybe Mos Eisley, and an unknown woman in gray Empirical regalia (Indira Varma) strides through a stretch of shrubby desert. Toward the end of the trailer, Reva threatens a Tatooine man with her red lightsaber.
The final sequences in the trailer raise more questions than they answer. A gloved hand brushes a strange symbol scrawled on a wall, Reva has a shadowy showdown in an alleyway on what appears to be Daiyu, a rooftop shootout, and a flock of green birds burst from an explosion. We can’t be certain whose hand this is, what the symbol means, who Reva is fighting, or what will happen to our hero, but we can expect a showdown: the trailer ends with a shot of Obi-Wan, but as the title page rolls, we can hear the rasp of Darth Vader’s masked breath.
Obi-Wan Kenobiwill premiere on Disney+ on May 25. You can watch the full teaser trailer below:
