‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ series was rewritten because it was too dark

“We’re looking, ultimately, to make a hopeful, uplifting story”

The original scripts for Star Wars series Obi-Wan Kenobi were revamped to make a more “uplifting” and “hopeful” story.

The upcoming Disney+ series brings back Ewan McGregor as the famed Jedi for the first time since 2005’s Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge Of The Sith, alongside Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader.

In a feature on Entertainment Weekly, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy revealed she was concerned by the show’s original scripts, written by Hossein Amini, due to their dark tone. As a result, production was delayed from August 2020 to January 2021, while a new writer was hired in Joby Harold to make adjustments.

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“We’re looking, ultimately, to make a hopeful, uplifting story,” said Kennedy. “And it’s tricky when you’re starting with a character in the state that Obi-Wan would be in coming off of Revenge Of The Sith. That’s a pretty bleak period of time. You can’t just wave the magic wand with any writer and arrive at a story that necessarily reflects what you want to feel.”

Harold worked with series director Deborah Chow (The Mandalorian) on the story. Asked how much of the original plot made into the new version of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Chow said they “inherited some of it, but we did really make some significant changes and add a few different elements”.

Obi-Wan Kenobi picks up 10 years after events in Revenge Of The Sith, with the character hiding out on Tatooine. “Obi-Wan is lost,” said McGregor. “He’s a broken man after what happened with the Jedi order at the end of Episode III, but also what happened with Anakin; that he lost him to the dark side. He feels an enormous amount of responsibility for that, and guilt.”

The series also stars Joel Edgerton, Bonnie Piesse, Moses Ingram, Indira Varma, Rupert Friend and Sung Kang. Star Wars composer John Williams has also written the show’s theme music.

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Obi-Wan Kenobi is scheduled to premiere on May 25, 2022 on Disney+.

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