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Obi-Wan Kenobi cast: Which Star Wars characters are returning?

Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi in Attack of the Clones (L) and in the new Disney+ series. (Lucasfilm)
Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi in Attack of the Clones (L) and in the new Disney+ series. (Lucasfilm)

“I've been waiting for you, Obi-Wan,” Darth Vader told his former teacher in the original Star Wars.

“The circle is now complete. When I left you I was but the learner. Now, I am the master.”

For the last 17 years, ever since Revenge Of The Sith revealed exactly how Anakin Skywalker became the darkest lord of the Sith, we’ve taken it that their last meeting before facing off on the Death Star had been the fateful fight in Mustafar, when Obi-Wan lightsabered his former padawan’s limbs off, before watching him smoulder in the planet’s lava flow.

Read more: Kenobi stars overjoyed by reappraisal of prequel trilogy

But no, it seems, there was another story we hadn’t yet been told. Obi-Wan, we’re soon to find out, didn’t spend all that time on Tatooine in quiet hermitude, playing Dejarik and watching those twin suns go down every night, as Disney+’s new limited run series is about to show us.

Hayden Christensen as Vader and Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan in Revenge of the Sith. (Lucasfilm/Fox)
Hayden Christensen as Vader and Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan in Revenge of the Sith. (Lucasfilm/Fox)

So, where did we leave Obi-Wan and the freshly-monickered Darth Vader at the close of Episode III? With the Emperor victorious, Yoda instructed that Anakin’s two kids be hidden from Vader and Palpatine, telling Obi-Wan to send Luke “To Tatooine, to his family.”

“I will take the child and watch over him,” Kenobi answers, with the film’s final seconds showing Obi-Wan stopping by Owen and Beru Lars’ homestead and passing them their, er, step-nephew. Cue end credits.

Disney+’s Obi-Wan Kenobi, we’re told, picks up the story 10 years later. But what do we know so far about this long-awaited TV show?

Which legacy Star Wars characters will turn up in Obi-Wan?

LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 12: Hayden Christensen attends the
Hayden Christensen attends the Obi-Wan Kenobi photocall at Corinthia Hotel London, 2022. (Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)

Apart from Ewan McGregor returning to the role he first played an incredible 23 years ago, Hayden Christensen is back as Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader.

Course, how much of Hayden’s face or voice (whether the now 91-year-old James Earl Jones is voicing Vader, well, no-one’s saying) we’re actually going to see and here is a mystery.

Read more: Ewan McGregor pays tribute to George Lucas

Vader in the original trilogy wasn’t exactly removing his helmet every five minutes, and there’s a danger that seeing too much of the face beneath the mask might scuff away some of the character’s mystery (see also Boba Fett in The Book Of Boba Fett).

Owen Lars in Star Wars: Episode II -  Attack of the Clones. (Lucasfilm/Fox)
Owen and Beru talk to Padme and Anakin in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones. (Lucasfilm/Fox)
(L-R): Owen Lars (Joel Edgerton) and Reva (Moses Ingram) in Lucasfilm's Obi-Wan Kenobi. (Lucasfilm)
(L-R): Owen Lars (Joel Edgerton) and Reva (Moses Ingram) in Obi-Wan Kenobi. (Lucasfilm)

Also back for more are Joel Edgerton as Luke’s Uncle Owen and Bonnie Piesse as Aunt Beru, both returning to their roles from Attack Of The Clones and Revenge Of The Sith.

And then there’s Luke Skywalker himself, but not like we’ve ever seen him before.

How big a character this 10-year-old version of the great hope of the galaxy is in Obi-Wan Kenobi remains to be seen, as he’s only glimpsed in the trailer.

Will he be a front-line presence or kept tantalisingly on the sidelines?

Who are the Inquisitors in Obi-Wan Kenobi?

Fifth Brother (Sung Kang) and Stormtroopers in Lucasfilm's OBI-WAN KENOBI, exclusively on Disney+. © 2022 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™. All Rights Reserved.
Fifth Brother (Sung Kang) and Stormtroopers in Obi-Wan Kenobi. (Lucasfilm)

Viewers of animated show Star Wars Rebels (2014-18) will already be au fait with this group of Force-sensitive Imperial enforcers.

Read more: Everything new on Disney+ in May

After the order to eliminate every Jedi was carried out in Revenge Of The Sith, a few Knights survived, and it was the Inquisitors’ job to ferret them out. Hence, 10 years on from Order 66, it’s these dogged Jedi hunters who are on Obi-Wan’s trail with Darth Vader right behind them.

Fifth Brother (Sung Kang) in Lucasfilm's OBI-WAN KENOBI, exclusively on Disney+. © 2022 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™. All Rights Reserved.
Rupert Friend as Grand Inquisitor in Obi-Wan Kenobi. (Lucasfilm)

Brit actor Rupert Friend plays the Grand Inquisitor, a high-ranking ex-Jedi who answers only to Vader. “He used to fight for the forces of good as a temple guard,” Friend told Entertainment Weekly.

“And he also is one of the people who trained Jedi in fighting styles, so he knows all the things that they know about fighting, and that makes him a pretty fearsome opponent.”

Reva (Moses Ingram) in Lucasfilm's OBI-WAN KENOBI, exclusively on Disney+. © 2022 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™. All Rights Reserved.
Reva (Moses Ingram) in Obi-Wan Kenobi. (Lucasfilm)

Additionally, Queen’s Gambit actor Moses Ingram plays Reva, aka The Third Sister, another of the dreaded Inquisitors. We don’t know much about Reva yet, apart from what we’ve spied in the trailers (she’s pretty handy with a lightsaber), but series scribe Joby Harold has teased to EW that she would "contribute to the legacy of Star Wars villains in a really interesting way."

Can we expect any surprises in Obi-Wan Kenobi?

Darth Vader (Hayden Christensen) in Lucasfilm's OBI-WAN KENOBI, exclusively on Disney+. © 2022 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™. All Rights Reserved.
Darth Vader (Hayden Christensen) in Obi-Wan Kenobi. (Lucasfilm)

Given how little has been revealed so far about the series (Disney isn’t even releasing review screeners), surely Lucasfilm have a few surprises in store over the course of its six episodes.

Is it too much to expect any crossover from any of the other Disney+ Star Wars shows? Obi-Wan may take place at least 15 years before The Mandalorian, but that doesn’t mean it can’t pilfer some of its characters.

Read more: Lucas 'couldn't hide disappointment' when he was shown The Force Awakens

Could Boba Fett or Ahsoka Tano pop up, or maybe even Mando himself? And given Obi-Wan Kenobi’s place in the Star Wars timeline (it’s around seven to eight years before A New Hope), might we expect some kind of deep-faked Grand Moff Tarkin cameo?

The technology for this kind of thing has come on leaps and bounds since CGI Peter Cushing’s appearance in Rogue One.

What do I need to watch before Obi-Wan Kenobi airs?

<p>TV cartoons based on movies may be ten-a-penny, but this one is considered canon to the Star Wars universe, and is generally held in higher esteem by fans than the prequel trilogy. (Credit: Lucasfilm) </p>
Star Wars: The Clone Wars. (Lucasfilm)

Disney has shared a handy pre-Obi-Wan viewing guide. According to the list, it’s advised to start with The Phantom Menace, before moving onto Attack Of The Clones, then the animated Clone Wars movie, followed by episodes 12-16 of season two of The Clone Wars TV series, before jumping ahead to episodes 15-18 of season four and then 14-16 of season five, before finishing with Revenge Of The Sith.

If you can pack all those in before Friday morning, then you’ll be fully prepped for what’s perhaps Disney+’s most hotly-anticipated Star Wars show.

Obi-Wan Kenobi launches with two episodes on Disney+ on Friday, 27 May, with episodes released weekly thereafter. Watch a trailer below.