While many believe Obi-Wan Kenobi would have been better as a film rather than a TV series, one of the show’s writers recently revealed that he planned it to be a trilogy. Obi-Wan Kenobi, released on Disney+ in 2022, is a solid Star Wars entry, with a standout performance by Ewan McGregor in the titular role and the long awaited return of Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader.
Obi-Wan Kenobi was originally planned as a film centered on the Jedi Master’s confrontations with the Imperial Army and Darth Vader. While it was shelved and turned into a TV series, writer Stuart Beattie had meant it to be a film trilogy and sought Lucasfilm to make it happen, much to his dismay.
In an interview with Star Wars Theory on YouTube, Beattie explained how he initially wanted Lucasfilm to create three films to address the respective phases of Kenobi and how he would mature through his interactions with Darth Vader. In his words,
When Disney took over, I thought they were probably going to do an Obi-Wan movie because that’s the one everyone wants but I wasn’t hearing anything about it. So, I started coming up with my own ideas and went up to Lucasfilm and pitched them. That’s what actually got the ball rolling, since they were busy with Rogue One and Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Even though Beattie’s pitch gained approval, and he became one of the key writers, he did not expect Disney to transform it into a TV series, which was quite contrary to what he was planning to do. He continued,
They did ask me in the meeting if it was a movie or a show, and I said, no, it’s a movie, it’s actually three movies I had planned for him [Obi-Wan]. Then it wasn’t until a year later they were like, hey, let’s do it as a show.
The main reason for the trilogy’s cancelation is Disney’s decision not to make any more spin-off films after Solo, which is why fans missed out on something that could have been a game changer for Star Wars if done correctly, especially since both Darth Vader and Obi-Wan are two of the franchise’s most iconic characters.
What Could the Obi-Wan Movie Trilogy Have Covered?
As much as fans yearn to see something out of the Skywalker Saga, a trilogy centered on Obi-Wan’s adventures would be ambitious, but Beattie has everything planned out. In the same conversation, Beattie stated that Obi-Wan would watch over and train Luke to become the greatest Jedi in the galaxy, saving it from Palpatine’s evil reign.
A big part of the journey for him [Obi-Wan] in my first film is finding his connection back to the Force.
Eventually, Obi-Wan would lose his connection to the Force, evolving into a different character (Ben). Beattie additionally stated that a good portion of the first film would focus on Obi-Wan’s quest to unearth the mystery behind his lost powers. Then Obi-Wan would leave Luke for the time being to allow him to grow at his own pace rather than rigorously training him.
Overall, even though the project did not make it to the big screen, at the very least, we did have a great TV series that has yet to receive a sequel. So, would you have liked to see an Obi-Wan trilogy on the big screen?