At Simply $90M, Disney+’s Lowest-Price range Star Wars Collection Is the Franchise’s Greatest Weekend Binge

Star Wars is lastly returning to the large display screen with The Mandalorian and Groguhowever the franchise has additionally thrived due to a gradual stream of reveals on Disney+. Stated reveals additionally are typically pretty costly: a single season of The Acolyte price roughly $230 million {dollars}whereas Andor topped out at a whopping $645 million throughout two seasons. There is a Star Wars sequence that truly prices far lower than followers would possibly count on, and it is one which they’ll binge-watch throughout a single weekend: Obi-Wan Kenobi. Kenobi had a manufacturing finances of roughly $90 millionbut put it to good use.

Set within the decade between Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, Obi-Wan Kenobi follows Ewan McGregor‘s titular Jedi as he struggles with the guilt of failing to stop his former apprentice, Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) from falling to the Darkish Facet of the Pressure. Whereas Obi-Wan would like to remain on Tattooine and watch over Luke Skywalker, he finally finally ends up on a galaxy-spanning journey to save lots of a younger Leia Organa (Vivien Lyra Blair), operating afoul of Darth Vader and his Inquisitors within the course of.

‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Prioritizes Character Over Spectacle

A part of what makes Obi-Wan Kenobi an excellent watch is the work that is carried out with every charactershowcasing how they develop into the figures we see within the authentic Star Wars trilogy. All through the sequence, Obi-Wan grapples with lingering guilt and uncertainty over his future; discovering and defending Leia provides him new objective, as does his confrontation with Vader. Within the sequence finale, Obi-Wan lastly lets go of that guilt, returning to guard Luke and reconnecting together with his former grasp Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson). Although she’s solely a baby, Leia reveals flashes of independence and ingenuity, highlighting the chief she’ll develop into in future Star Wars movies.

Even the villains get time to shinenotably Reva Savander (Moses Ingram), the Inquisitor higher generally known as the Third Sister. At first, it seems that Reva is merely looking Obi-Wan and Leia down, however then her true targets are revealed; she desires to get near and kill Vader for his participation within the occasions of Order 66. In a rarity for Star Wars villains, Reva even will get to stay as she realizes vengeance is not the reply to her issues. Vader himself additionally has an emotional second within the season finale, the place he admits that Obi-Wan wasn’t accountable for his fall to darkness. This is not only a villain truly admitting that he is the issue; it is when Anakin Skywalker actually dies, and Darth Vader rises in his place.

‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Was Initially Meant to Be A Characteristic Movie

Earlier than it hit Disney+, Obi-Wan Kenobi was initially developed as a function movie, with a a lot completely different plot. Obi-Wan would have stayed on Tatooine all through the whole lot of the movie and ended up defending Luke from hordes of Tusken Raiders. As a result of Solo: A Star Wars Story flopping on the field workplace, the Kenobi movie was shelved; it additionally did not assist that Jason Aaron‘s tenure on Marvel’s Star Wars comics featured Obi-Wan battling all method of threats on Tatooine. The sequence would finally enter growth, however a artistic overhaul occurred when Lucasfilm realized the concept of Obi-Wan defending Luke was far too just like The Mandalorian. Ewan McGregor mentioned how the story modified at a Fan Expo panel in 2022:

“It was going to be a narrative about me and Luke. It was all the time going to be that, and that was one of many genius moments the place everybody went, ‘Wait a minute,’ after which it modified.”

The change works for the higher, because it permits Obi-Wan and Leia to bond whereas additionally providing completely different areas, such because the crime-ridden world of Daiyu and the Inquisitors’ huge fortress on an underwater planet. Taking a look at these areas, you possibly can’t inform that the manufacturing was solely $90 million, which works to point out that director Deborah Chow is aware of the way to take advantage of bang for her buck. It is also a lesson for streamers: folks reply to nice tales, to not how a lot cash you possibly can throw on-screenand Obi-Wan Kenobi turned out to be an excellent one.