The upcoming Disney+Obi-Wan Kenobiseries is closing in on who will join Ewan McGregor as the show’s female lead, with Naomi Scott, Thuso Mbedu and Anula Navlekar reportedly receiving call-backs regarding a character named “Riley/Eve”, who will be an integral part of theStar Warsminiseries.
Naomi Scottis already a member of the Disney family, having starred as Princess Jasmine in the hugely successful live-action remake of Disney’sAladdin. She also recently starred in the much less successfulCharlie’s Angelsreboot and played Kimberly Hart AKA the Pink Ranger in 2017’sPower Rangers.
Thuso Mbedu is due to appear in director Barry Jenkins' upcoming Amazon Prime series,The Underground Railroadalongside Joel Edgerton, while Navlekar is a relatively unknown actor. The role of Riley has been described as “A female BIPOC whose character details are being kept under wraps”, with details regarding several other supporting roles having also been revealed. These include, “Tia Female (30s) SUPPORTING - BIPOC”, “Harold Male (Late 20s-30s) SUPPORTING - A quirky, comedic male”, and “Bella Female (40s) SUPPORTING - Latinx”, all of which suggest thatObi-Wan Kenobiwill feature a wonderfully diverse cast of characters.
After waiting for so, so long for a standaloneStar Warsseries centered onObi-Wan Kenobi, it’s hard to believe that it is finally happening. Thankfully, this is not all part of some elaborate fantasy, with the show due to consist of six episodes and stand alone as a limited series. It will be produced by Kathleen Kennedy, Carrie Beck, and Deborah Chow, with Chow also on board to direct.
Obi-Wan Kenobiwill take place in between the events ofStar Wars: Revenge of the SithandStar Wars: A New Hope, focussing on the life of theexiled Jedi Masteras he watches over Luke Skywalker on Tatooine. While specific plot details remain scarce, a recent casting call for two child actors to play a pair of “precocious” twins suggests that both Luke and his twin sister Leia will appear in the series, with their father, Darth Vader, also rumored to appear. Reportedly, Vader will be attempting to track down his old mentor and friend inObi-Wan Kenobi, which, if true, should provide an emotionally charged journey for all involved.
As excited asStar Warsfans are for the series, no one is more excited than returning actor Ewan McGregor, who recently revealed that he has already suited back up as the legendary Jedi. “I walked into the dressing room. There were my beige cloaks and my belts and boots…It was my old costume,” the actor said. “It was amazing! I’m very excited- I really am very excited about it… We’ve been talking about doing (the series) for four, five, maybe more years… I’m excited about the fact that it’s a series as opposed to a movie. It gives us more space. And I’m mainly excited because of The Mandalorian series which I thought was really good.”
Obi-Wan Kenobiis due to begin production in the United Kingdom in March 2021, with the series hopefully premiering onDisney+in 2022. With Naomi Scott, Thuso Mbedu and Anula Navlekar in consideration for co-lead, which of the three would you most like to see join McGregor inObi-Wan Kenobi? This comes to us fromThe Illuminerdi.
