Star Wars: 10 Reasons Why Disney+'s Obi-Wan Kenobi Is Awesome
The Force is strong with this one.
Disney+'s Obi-Wan Kenobi - which sees Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen return to their iconic roles as Obi-Wan and Anakin Skywalker - has finally arrived, and you know what? It's good. It's very good.
It's not a televisual masterpiece, of course. As ever with Star Wars, plot holes and plot armour are absolutely everywhere, and the pacing is a little hit-or-miss, but for the most part this is a very thrilling, affecting series that actually adds previously unseen emotional dimensions to the beloved titular character.
Therefore, while not the strongest Star Wars show to date, this is still an enormously fun and occasionally downright brilliant miniseries that is mercifully a hell of a lot better than The Book of Boba Fett and the majority of the MCU Disney+ shows (most of which are very forgettable, let's face it).
There's been some backlash against the show online but let's face it: Star Wars fans are a very whiny bunch who rarely give any of the more recent Star Wars films or shows any credit whatsoever. Obi-Wan Kenobi is, in fact, most definitely worth your time and here's why...
Spoilers ahead.
10. The Fan Service Feels Earned
One of the biggest criticisms of Disney in recent times has been their tendency to do 'Member Movies' - for those who don't know, this is a joke that originated in South Park about films and shows that lean too heavily on nostalgia.
And honestly? This is a fair criticism. For example, most of Disney's live-action remakes of their animated classics are the very definition of 'Member Movies'. But rest assured, Obi-Wan Kenobi is not a shallow nostalgia-fest in the slightest and when the fan service does happen, it feels completely earned.
For example, the finale features cameos from Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) and Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) - the latter being as a Force Ghost - and in both cases, it's totally justified. Darth Vader's conversation with Palpatine feels like a logical bit of exposition, and Obi-Wan (Ewan McGregor) finally being able to see Qui-Gon's Force Ghost (something he wasn't able to do previously) represents him reaching a sense of inner peace. So, both cameos enhance the overall story.
Similarly, it was no doubt tempting to bombard viewers with Clone Wars flashbacks, but instead, we just get one in Part V. Since this sequence - depicting a practice duel between Anakin (Hayden Christensen) and Obi-Wan on Coruscant - is used to explore their relationship and the flaws that led Anakin to the Dark Side, again it feels earned.
This is how you do fan-service. Let's just hope future Disney Star Wars projects take notes from this.