While many Star Wars fans were looking to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the original movie by sitting down to enjoy the premiere of Obi-Wan Kenobi on Disney+, it seems that they will have to wait just a little bit longer to see Ewan McGregor’s return as the Jedi Master. Disney released a short message from McGregor himself, which announced that the show’s debut will now be moving back by two days to Friday, May 27th, but on that day Disney will be releasing the first two episodes of the series to add a little sweetener to the delay.
In the message, McGregor says, “Hello Star Wars fans. Thank you for all of your incredible support and response to Obi-Wan Kenobi. I have some important news. Our premiere date is moving, just a couple of days, from Wednesday to Friday May, 27th. But here’s the exciting part. The first two episodes will premiere together. So make sure you tune into both episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi, streaming Friday May 27th, exclusively on Disney+.”
Considering some of the lengthy delays that have befallen a number of movies, including a wave of Disney’s own Marvel films, a two-day delay for Obi-Wan Kenobi is not huge in itself. It is however a big disappointment that the series premiere will be moving away from the original 25th release date, as the date has special meaning for many fans. As well as being the 45th anniversary of the premiere of Star Wars, other movies also released on that date were Return of the Jedi and Solo: A Star Wars Story and just to add to the occasion it is also the birthday of Frank Oz, who famously puppeteered and voiced Yoda throughout the franchise. It also means that the series will be going head to head with the new season of Stranger Things on Netflix, which also makes its debut that day.
Obi-Wan Kenobi Has Been a Long Time Coming, So Two Days Wait Isn’t Too Hard To Take
From its original conception as a movie, to its eventual development as a Disney+ TV show, it has taken a long time to get Ewan McGregor back in the Star Wars franchise as the Jedi master who kept a watchful eye over a young Luke Skywalker after the events of Revenge of the Sith. With the series set to fill in a gap between that movie and the events of Star Wars: A New Hope, there are many things that fans are eagerly looking forward to, including the return of Hayden Christensen as Darth Vader.
Although the main plot of the movie, and any other secret character appearances like that of Mark Hamill in The Mandalorian, are being kept under wraps, there is a lot riding on the series to deliver something the level of that show after the rocky reception given to The Book of Boba Fett at the end of last year. With many other Star Wars TV shows in development, anything other than a solid performance from Obi-Wan Kenobi could put the brakes on any of those upcoming shows in the same way the performance of Solo: A Star Wars Story did to the other movies being considered at that time.
You can now catch the first two episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi, on Disney+, on May 27.