Star Wars fans may not be getting a new movie in 2022, but they are getting the long-awaited Obi-Wan Kenobi series starring Ewan MacGregor and Hayden Christensen. Disney finally gave fans a small glimpse of this new series thanks to an Obi-Wan Kenobi teaser for Disney+ Day. And while there’s no actual footage of the series in the teaser, we do get a wealth of new concept art.
From glimpses of Darth Vader to strange new worlds in the Star Wars galaxy, let’s break down everything we’ve learned thanks to this Kenobi teaser. And check out our full Disney+ Day roundup to see all the latest Star Wars and Marvel news.
Obi-Wan’s Desert Costume
The first piece of concept art gives us an idea of what MacGregor’s Obi-Wan will look like after spending a few years as an eccentric desert hermit. His once pristine Jedi robes have become dirty and tattered with age, and Obi-Wan has added a few extra layers to protect him from the sand and heat of Tatooine. He could almost pass for a Fremen at this point.
If Obi-Wan’s new look seems familiar, it’s because the series appears to be drawing inspiration from other corners of the franchise. Sideshow Collectibles’ Ben Kenobi Mythos Statue (and the subsequent action figure) once hypothesized what a post-Episode III Obi-Wan would look like. And even though that statue is long since sold out, it’s pretty much become the default look for any story set during Obi-Wan’s time on Tatooine. Marvel’s monthly Star Wars series adopted a similar look for a series of flashback stories featuring Obi-Wan.
The Sith Inquisitor
While fans are eagerly awaiting the big showdown between Obi-Wan and Darth Vader in this series, this teaser makes it clear Obi-Wan will have to worry about more than just the Dark Lord of the Sith. One piece of art confirms the Sith Inquisitorius have a part to play in this story.
The Inquisitorius were first introduced in the animated series Star Wars Rebels, and have since gone on to play key roles in Jedi Fallen Order and Marvel’s Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith series. This group of Dark Side adepts serve Darth Vader, helping him carry out his ongoing mission to hunt down and exterminate all surviving Jedi.
It’s probably safe to assume this Inquisitor will be tasked with hunting Obi-Wan during the course of the series. Only after she fails to kill Master Kenobi will Vader himself be forced to step in. Another possibility is that the Inquisitor is actually on the trail of the young Luke Skywalker, forcing Obi-Wan to come out of hiding and distract her from her real prey.
As for which Inquisitor we’re seeing, it’s hard to say for sure without knowing exactly when the series is set. She could either be Second Sister, one of the main antagonists of Jedi Fallen Order, or Seventh Sister, the character voiced by Sarah Michelle Gellar in Rebels. Second Sister is killed by Vader himself in the climax of Fallen Order, which is set roughly 14 years before Episode IV. Seventh Sister survives much longer, only meeting her end in battle against Maul in the Rebels Season 2 finale.
New Star Wars Locations
If you were assuming the Obi-Wan Kenobi series is mostly set on Tatooine, this new teaser should clear things up. We catch glimpses of a number of different worlds in this footage, some familiar and some wholly unfamiliar.
This shot looks to be of an underwater Imperial base. Given what happened to the cloning facility on Kamino in Star Wars: The Bad Batch, we can probably assume this isn’t Kamino. Could these be the troops occupying Mon Cala?
This Blade Runner-esque city shot is probably depicting Coruscant.
This could be another level of Coruscant, but it could just as easily be set on any number of worlds in the Star Wars galaxy.
Finally, this shot shows what might be a group of Rebels piloting a very familiar Star Wars ship.
These are the airspeeders the Alliance later converts into Snowspeeders while hiding out on Hoth. Given the desert environment, this shot could be set on Tatooine, but as we’ve seen, it’s far from the only desert planet in the galaxy.
A Rematch With Darth Vader
The teaser closes with a few tantalizing glimpses of the Dark Lord of the Sith himself. We’ve known for a while that Hayden Christensen is returning to reprise the Darth Vader role, suggesting this iconic villain has a significant part to play in the Kenobi series.
The first Vader image shows him in what appears to be his castle on Mustafar, conferring with a hologram of a character who could be an Inquisitor, Emperor Palpatine or even Obi-Wan himself.
The second image is very reminiscent of the final duel between Obi-Wan and Anakin at the end of Episode III. It could also be taking place in the lava fields of Mustafar. However, Anakin is wearing his Vader armor here, suggesting we’re actually going to see Obi-Wan have a rematch with his fallen apprentice. Whatever happens, Obi-Wan may have to fake his own death in order to keep Vader from following him back to Tatooine.
It may seem ridiculous to suggest Obi-Wan and Vader had another duel in between Episodes III and IV, but there’s nothing in the Star Wars canon that explicitly rules out the possibility. The series may give us some critical new context into their relationship during the era of the Empire. We may finally learn why Vader admitted to Luke in Return of the Jedi that he knew Obi-Wan believed he could be redeemed (more on that theory here).
We may also learn the true significance behind Vader’s words from Episode IV, “We meet again, at last. The circle is now complete. When I left you I was but the learner. Now I am the master.”
In short, there’s a reason Christensen is back in the role this time. There’s an important Anakin/Obi-Wan story still left to tell.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.