Obi-Wan Kenobi premiered in households worldwide last weekend, with positive reception from fans and critics alike. Now Disney is revealing that Kenobi was the most-viewed Disney+ premiere of all time. This is impressive considering the other contenders on the list of originals, including Loki, WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, The Mandalorian, and The Book of Boba Fett.
A significant reason for the viewership is beloved actors returning, such as Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen. Following 2005's Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, many fans thought they would never see the Jedi Master and his fallen padawan again. However, after the announcement of Obi-Wan Kenobi and McGregor's return, the hype train started rolling and never stopped. With the addition of Hayden Christensen as Darth Vader, fans couldn't be more pleased with where the series was heading. Read the official announcement from the Star Wars Twitter account below:
Although fans have received numerous Star Wars shows on Disney+ in the last few years, we've yet to see one that's on the massive scale that Kenobi is. The series truly feels like a movie, whether that's due to the prequel flashbacks, the returning actors, or the fact that Kenobi was nearly a feature-length film. The original plan for Disney was to make Obi-Wan Kenobi into a movie. However, these plans were reconsidered after the lackluster performance of Solo: A Star Wars Story. A film simply couldn't provide the necessary time to flesh out Obi-Wan's story. In addition, Disney had already seen the success some of their original series could produce; thus, Obi-Wan Kenobi turned into a miniseries.
Obi-Wan Kenobi is on the Run
Spoilers For Obi-Wan Kenobi Ahead
Although Ewan McGregor returned to his formal role of Obi-Wan, this isn't the same Jedi Master we saw in Revenge of the Sith. He's older now and hasn't properly dueled an opponent since his fight with Anakin on Mustafar. He's still grieving from what he believed to be the loss of his padawan and continues to lie low on Tatooine, avoiding encounters with the Inquisitors who are hunting Kenobi and the rest of the remaining Jedi.
Leia also makes an appearance, albeit far younger than we see in Star Wars: A New Hope. Vivien Lyra Blair plays the princess, who is still a rebel even at ten years old. Moses Ingram, Rupert Friend, and Sung Kang play the Inquisitors, relentlessly hunting Obi-Wan at the behest of Darth Vader. As the second episode comes to a close, we even get a glimpse of Hayden Christensen in the bacta tank, healing his wounds from his former master.
Episode 3 of Obi-Wan Kenobi releases this Wednesday and will follow with weekly releases. You can stream them on Disney+.