Star Wars Misc. Catch-All

The Dark Side of Obi-Wan Kenobi: Bringing Back Darth Vader and Introducing Inquisitors

Excited for Friday!

Hayden Christensen on his first day back on set as Darth Vader with Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi

Ewan was on Jimmy Fallon last night, talking about actually seeing Vader face to face and having a moment of fear, being 7 years old again.

For someone who was chased out of movies because of toxic Star Wars fans to be stepping back into Star Wars takes a whole lot of bravery.

I think Jake got it way worse at a way worse age than Hayden.

Is Obi Wan tonight or tomorrow? Can I unethically watch it at work or do I need to wait until the weekend?

UpToIsomorphism wrote:

Is Obi Wan tonight or tomorrow? Can I unethically watch it at work or do I need to wait until the weekend?

It’s available right now.

So…. Obi-Wan Kenobi starts with a fairly visceral scene of an attack on a school… for anyone who might be startled by such things right now. I know it’s just Star Wars, but I found it tough to watch. Just a heads up.

It could have used more Kumail but is otherwise fine. It’s a better start than the Boba Fett series.
I think I’m just a little down on it because I really wish the people in charge of the IP had the courage to approve more stories outside the movie universe but I guess we’re just stuck with filling in every minutiae of the film timeline for the foreseeable future. It’s starting to feel like 20 years from now you’ll be able to watch all the Star Wars films and shows in timeline order and be able to cover hundreds of years of events and not miss more than a couple months here and there.

ruhk wrote:

It could have used more Kumail but is otherwise fine. It’s a better start than the Boba Fett series.
I think I’m just a little down on it because I really wish the people in charge of the IP had the courage to approve more stories outside the movie universe but I guess we’re just stuck with filling in every minutiae of the film timeline for the foreseeable future. It’s starting to feel like 20 years from now you’ll be able to watch all the Star Wars films and shows in timeline order and be able to cover hundreds of years of events and not miss more than a couple months here and there.

I certainly don't see Filoni wanting to tell any stories of his own that aren't somehow tied back to events/characters from the movies, but now that he's the executive creative producer for LucasFIlm, he might be more willing than Disney has been to take a chance on someone else's non-movie related story if he likes it enough. It's kind of tough though, because having some connection to the movies is usually the only reason to set it in the Star Wars universe to begin with.

I had absolutely no interest in watching this. The premise is up there with that of Solo: A Star Wars Story.

But today's review in The Guardian has sold it to me. And I quote:

"One of the very first scenes of the new Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi shows characters slaving away in the desert, earning a pittance by scraping scraps of meat from a giant, long-dead carcass. This is either a complete coincidence, or someone at Disney+ is a little more self-aware than they should be.

Because, to continue the meat metaphor for a moment, Obi-Wan Kenobi is connective tissue. His two good stories – how he came to train the boy who would be Darth Vader and, later, how Vader killed him – were told decades ago. Chronologically, this new series sits somewhere in the middle. Kenobi left Anakin Skywalker for dead a decade ago and, realistically, it’s another decade before the events of Star Wars: A New Hope...

But such is the way of super-franchises. Post-Lucas Star Wars exists almost exclusively to bulk out thin gruel, joining various dots that didn’t need to be joined, for the delight of a quickly ageing fanbase. And so it is here. Consider this Obi-Wan Kenobi: The Startlingly Unnecessary Years...

"

But now, as fully-paid-up member of the 'quickly ageing fanbase', I'm in. Thin gruel it may be, but its better than no gruel at all while we wait for Disney to find the courage to try something new with that vast Star Wars universe.

Well they tried something new with The Last Jedi and a bunch of babies whined about it and then things got worse

Stele wrote:

Well they tried something new with The Last Jedi and a bunch of babies whined about it and then things got worse

I'm not sure 'The Last Jedi' was that new. The story still featured Luke and Leia very prominently.

For me, 'new' means letting go of the handrail of the Original Trilogy entirely, and telling entirely new stories about entirely new characters in an entirely different part of the Galaxy.

But this looking increasingly unlikely. As Stengah points out, its difficult to secure from Disney as Star Wars budget for film that isn't recognizably and uniquely Star Wars... and that mains laser-swords and space wizards. Without that, we could be watching 'The Expanse', or 'Battlestar Galactica'... or anything.

It is fine for a person to admit that a piece of media does not seem interesting to them. I wish more people would just admit that and not watch then hate watch and complain forever about it.

Stele wrote:

Well they tried something new with The Last Jedi and a bunch of babies whined about it and then things got worse

Last Jedi was a bad movie that did nothing new or original other than think of ways to crap on the main characters from the first trilogy and sideline interesting characters from the 7th movie. It’s too bad that valid arguments about how bad the story was done was snowed under by all the racist and sexist internet keyboard warriors

There’s going to be a High Republic series on Disney +, so fresh stuff is coming.

detroit20 wrote:

Thin gruel it may be, but its better than no gruel at all while we wait for Disney to find the courage to try something new with that vast Star Wars universe.

detroit20 wrote:

As Stengah points out, its difficult to secure from Disney as Star Wars budget for film that isn't recognizably and uniquely Star Wars... and that mains laser-swords and space wizards. Without that, we could be watching 'The Expanse', or 'Battlestar Galactica'... or anything.

I mean, yes. You could be watching anything else. Why does slapping the words "Star Wars" on the cover suddenly make you interested in something that is, by your own estimation, "thin gruel"? Why is the alternative "no gruel at all," as opposed to, "an actually filling meal, but one that's unconnected to a 1977 science fantasy film made good by a once-in-a-lifetime confluence of events and talent, never to be repeated?"

First two episodes of Obi Wan are incredible. I'll re-watch with my son, but on first viewing, by far the best production values of any of the Disney+ shows to date, very cinematic.

Spoiler:

Of course, that is how you would get Kenobi off of Tatooine. And the PTSD is very well acted.

Stele wrote:

Well they tried something new with The Last Jedi and a bunch of babies whined about it and then things got worse

Ego Man wrote:

Last Jedi was a bad movie that did nothing new or original other than think of ways to crap on the main characters from the first trilogy and sideline interesting characters from the 7th movie. It’s too bad that valid arguments about how bad the story was done was snowed under by all the racist and sexist internet keyboard warriors

Oh God, not this again. Lets just give it a rest shall we?

Badferret wrote:

First two episodes of Obi Wan are incredible. I'll re-watch with my son, but on first viewing, by far the best production values of any of the Disney+ shows to date, very cinematic.

Spoiler:

Of course, that is how you would get Kenobi off of Tatooine. And the PTSD is very well acted.

Seconding this. Lots of little things in here to catch.

We dug it except for two things.

My wife felt that Reva was portrayed as a more or less a negative stereotype of a black woman. And can no one catch a tiny 10 y/o girl?

And was that Flea as the merc?

Spoiler:

And, uh, didn't the Grand Inquisitor die in Rebels?

That was indeed flea. I was thinking the same thing during the chase scene thru the forest.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/Aq4yTWa.jpeg)

DSGamer wrote:

So…. Obi-Wan Kenobi starts with a fairly visceral scene of an attack on a school… for anyone who might be startled by such things right now. I know it’s just Star Wars, but I found it tough to watch. Just a heads up.

Stranger Things 4 at least put a content warning up.

Rat Boy wrote:
DSGamer wrote:

So…. Obi-Wan Kenobi starts with a fairly visceral scene of an attack on a school… for anyone who might be startled by such things right now. I know it’s just Star Wars, but I found it tough to watch. Just a heads up.

Stranger Things 4 at least put a content warning up.

Disney should have done the same, to be honest.

Nevin73 wrote:

We dug it except for two things.

My wife felt that Reva was portrayed as a more or less a negative stereotype of a black woman. And can no one catch a tiny 10 y/o girl?

And was that Flea as the merc?

Spoiler:

And, uh, didn't the Grand Inquisitor die in Rebels?

This is set 10 years after Revenge of the Sith. Rebels doesn't start until 15 years after Revenge of the Sith, so my guess is that the Grand Inquisitor isn't going to stay dead.

DSGamer wrote:
Rat Boy wrote:
DSGamer wrote:

So…. Obi-Wan Kenobi starts with a fairly visceral scene of an attack on a school… for anyone who might be startled by such things right now. I know it’s just Star Wars, but I found it tough to watch. Just a heads up.

Stranger Things 4 at least put a content warning up.

Disney should have done the same, to be honest.

Yeah even with the warning here, it was hard to watch right now.

I enjoyed the first episode though. I’m delighted by the big reveal early on, and honestly I think they should have openly marketed it instead of leaving it as a surprise.

beanman101283 wrote:
DSGamer wrote:
Rat Boy wrote:
DSGamer wrote:

So…. Obi-Wan Kenobi starts with a fairly visceral scene of an attack on a school… for anyone who might be startled by such things right now. I know it’s just Star Wars, but I found it tough to watch. Just a heads up.

Stranger Things 4 at least put a content warning up.

Disney should have done the same, to be honest.

Yeah even with the warning here, it was hard to watch right now.

I enjoyed the first episode though. I’m delighted by the big reveal early on, and honestly I think they should have openly marketed it instead of leaving it as a surprise.

Not the first time Star Wars did this with a female protagonist.

Am skipping today’s comments for now until completed the episode(s) tomorrow. But a question first: watched the first 10 minutes with kids. Should we know who RoboCop and the black anti-Jedi are?