Think of all the years fans were waiting for Ewan McGregor to return as Obi-Wan Kenobi. Think of all the thousands of times the actor was asked about it. This year, it finally happened. Obi-Wan Kenobi is now on Disney+ and thanks to a new documentary, fans can see what all those years of anticipation and uncertainty looked like in practice once the cameras started rolling.
The Disney+ documentary is called Obi-Wan Kenobi: A Jedi’s Return, and over the course of an hour, it follows McGregor from his first days cast as the character way back in the late 1990s, all the way up until the day of the show’s premiere. We see him on set, reuniting with Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader and working with young Princess Leia, Vivien Lyra Blair, as well as all the stunts, action, and more. It’s a fantastic watch for Star Wars fans.
What follows isn’t everything that you’ll learn from the doc, but 14 of the most interesting revelations it contains.
Ewan’s Research
Footage from December 1996 reveals a very young Ewan McGregor auditioning to be Obi-Wan Kenobi followed by scenes of him discussing the role with George Lucas. In 2022, McGregor explains that he watched all of Alec Guinness’ earlier movies to try and see what the original Kenobi was like when he was younger.
Day One
The first day of production on Obi-Wan Kenobi was the first time we see him on the show, working on a farm, slicing meat. The shooting title for the show was “Joshua Tree.”
A Middle Lightsaber
Because audiences have seen Obi-Wan Kenobi’s lightsaber both before the series, in Revenge of the Sith, and after, in A New Hope, the prop team tells McGregor the one on this show was specifically designed as a halfway point between the two. Also, a bonus: the Sideshow legacy Obi-Wan Kenobi figure on the table.
Today Was a Good Day
No one seems happier to be in Obi-Wan Kenobi than O’Shea Jackson Jr., who plays Roken. We see the actor absolutely beaming on set and recalling how his family (which includes his father, Ice Cube) would watch the Star Wars films and listen to the music. He also explains that he sees his character as one of the first people to make what will become the Rebel Alliance.
Hayden’s Return
The documentary spends a lot of time, and rightfully so, on the return of Hayden Christensen. The actor explains he mainly came back to work with McGregor again, who had a profound impact on him as a person and actor from the prequels. There are great moments of him putting on his Jedi robes again and footage of his first day on set, which McGregor stayed for even though he was hundreds of feet away from him.
Fear of Vader
McGregor explains that while he’d worked with Christensen in the Vader suit before, he never did it with the helmet. So the first time he saw the helmeted Vader walking toward him, he felt genuine fear. He might have been the only one, though: the actor also explained everyone who worked on the show just happened to be on set that day to witness Darth Vader’s return.
A Love of Droids
In an adorable moment, young Leia actress Vivien Lyra Blair explains how she learned to read from Star Wars books and instantly fell in love with R2-D2. McGregor reiterates that Blair really, really loves droids. We also see a fantastic clip of the two doing a chemistry test over Zoom.
George Lucas’ Insight
In one of the better Christensen moments, and there are lots, he says that Lucas explained to him that even when Darth Vader is at his most evil, there’s always still a tiny piece of Anakin in him. He’s always the Chosen One.
Duel of the Fates
Though it’s not used in the show, when McGregor and Christensen fought as Kenobi and Vader for the last time, the iconic John Williams music piece was played on set.
Directing the Emperor
It’s not explained why, but for Ian McDiarmid’s scenes as Emperor Palpatine, Deborah Chow directed him over Zoom. The actor mentions that he keeps forgetting the word “execute.”
Liam Neeson’s Return
One of the most exciting moments in the documentary is seeing Liam Neeson back on set as Qui-Gon Jinn. The actor explains that it was Chow who sold him on the idea and when he knew McGregor was back, he had to do it.
A Smoking Finish
Obi-Wan Kenobi finished filming on day 125, with a shot of McGregor running into the night looking for young Luke Skywalker. To celebrate, he offers the crew cigars he had left over from the birth of his last child and then jokes that Disney probably won’t be happy about that. (It wasn’t; the documentary has an on-screen disclaimer about tobacco use.)
A New Hope
McGregor explains that, to him, what the story of the show does is — through characters like Leia and Tala — install new hope into Obi-Wan. And when he realises he just said the name of the original movie, he chuckles.
Stick Around for the Credits
When the credits start rolling, don’t turn off the special. In the middle of the credits, we get several more minutes of footage from this year’s Star Wars Celebration where Obi-Wan Kenobi and its stars finally presented the show to its fans. A full circle moment.