One of the most recurring and entirely valid complaints that fans have had during the Disney era of Star Wars is that the franchise has been happy to keep returning to the same well over and over again at the expense of taking any real creative risks, and when they did deviate from the norm in The Last Jedi, it turned out to split opinion right down the middle.
The Rise of Skywalker felt less like the conclusion to one of the most popular and beloved stories ever told on the big screen and more like a 142 minute apology that tried to cram in as much recognizable iconography and fan service as possible. Ultimately, the final chapter in the Skywalker Saga proved to be just as divisive, and now the cinematic future of Star Wars is clouded in uncertainty.
Things are looking much better on the small screen though, with The Mandalorian taking the right approach and using the Original Trilogy as a jumping-off point and telling stories that stand on their own merits. Expectations are arguably even higher for the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series, which has faced some major setbacks but will still have fans glued to their screens as Ewan McGregor makes his massively-anticipated return to Star Wars.
Hayden Christensen has already been heavily rumored to appear as Anakin Skywalker in flashbacks to his days as Obi-Wan’s apprentice and now, frequently reliable tipster Daniel Richtman has cryptically hinted on social media that his heavy-breathing alter-ego could also be set to appear.
👀👀👀 pic.twitter.com/UFrD7KqdL1
— Daniel Richtman (@DanielRPK) July 15, 2020
While it could be argued that we don’t really need to see Darth Vader again, following the early years of his reign of terror is something that hasn’t been done before, and if handled correctly it could also hugely inform Obi-Wan‘s arc from both a story and character perspective as we discover exactly how the events were set in motion that ultimately set the former Anakin Skywalker on an inevitable collision course with his own son.