Lucasfilm has finally caved and decided that their next standalone Star Wars film will be the one we’ve all been waiting for: the Obi-Wan Kenobi solo film.
Well, it’s about damn time, isn’t it? Arguably, Obi-Wan Kenobi is one of the most compelling characters in the Star Wars universe. Or at the very least, he’s one of the most mysterious. When it comes to the saga films specifically, there’s so much about him that we don’t know. Has there been supplemental information given to us through comic books and television series? Yeah, sure. But there are a lot of Star Wars fans who don’t dive into those. Yet, I think we can all agree that an Obi-Wan solo film is long overdue.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the next standalone film in production after Han Solo is the Obi-Wan Kenobi movie. While development happens to be in its early stages, Lucasfilm wants Stephen Daldry to direct. Now, you might be wondering who that is because Lucasfilm typically chooses some big name director to oversee a project. See: J.J. Abrams, Colin Trevorrow, Rian Johnson, Garth Edwards, etc. However, it’s important to note that Daldry is an Oscar-nominated director, which means, this film will probably carry a more serious and dramatic tone.
Of course, that sounds perfect, right? First introduced in 1977 in A New Hope, Obi-Wan/Ben Kenobi was some hermit who taught Luke Skywalker the ways of the Force. Further, the Rebellion and Princess Leia saw him as their only hope, though at that time, we knew basically nothing about him. During the prequels, Star Wars expanded his story a bit, but only in terms of how it impacted Anakin Skywalker.
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At this time, Lucasfilm doesn’t have a script or an actor attached to the project. But unless you’ve kept your head in the sand, you probably know that Ewan McGregor (who played Obi-Wan in the prequels) stated on multiple occasions he’d like to return. Lucasfilm set a mysterious spin-off date for 2020, so this must be it!