Obi-Wan Kenobi star Moses Ingram becomes one of the first Black women to have a prominent role in the Star Wars franchise as she appears as Reva The Third Sister of the Inquisitors in the Ewan McGregor-led series, which arrives on Disney+ this Friday. However, before taking on the role, the actress says she was told by Lucasfilm to expect a certain amount of racial backlash from “fans” on social media, similar to some toxic comments made about the latest Star Wars movies.
In Obi-Wan Kenobi, we will see Ewan McGregor’s Jedi Master living in exile on Tatooine, where he keeps an eye on a ten-year-old Luke Skywalker. Kenobi will find himself being hunted by the Inquisitors, an order of Sith warriors who have been given the task of hunting down the remaining members of the Jedi order by Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine. While there are many fans eagerly awaiting the newest addition to the Star Wars franchise, there have been a number of incidents of unwarranted toxicity towards some of its biggest stars in recent years.
During an interview with The Independent, Ingram commented that Lucasfilm preempted the actress’s appearance in the series by warning her that she could see negativity being aimed towards her by the darker side of the fan base, and hoped by warning her, they could lessen the impact on her. She explained:
"It was something that Lucasfilm actually got in front of, and said, 'This is a thing that, unfortunately, likely will happen. But we are here to help you; you can let us know when it happens.' Of course there are always pockets of hate. But I have no problem with the block button."
Personal Attacks on Star Wars Actors Have Been Happening For Years
Whether it is the hate aimed at Ahmed Best for bringing Jar Jar Binks to life in The Phantom Menace, dissatisfaction with Hayden Christensen’s debut as Anakin Skywalker, criticism of a female lead and black stormtrooper with Rey and Finn, respectively, in The Force Awakens, or the abuse of Kelly Marie Tran online to the point she closed down her social media accounts following the release of The Last Jedi, in which she played Rose Tico, Star Wars has seen a lot of fan toxicity over the years. It is therefore not surprising that Lucasfilm wanted to pre-warn their star of the potential challenges she could face.
However, as Ingram stated in the same interview, Obi-Wan Kenobi is a massively diverse entry in the Star Wars franchise, something that she believes has been a long time coming. She said:
“Obi-Wan is going to bring the most diversity I think we’ve ever seen in the galaxy before. To me, it’s long overdue. If you’ve got talking droids and aliens, but no people of colour, it doesn’t make any sense. It’s 2022, you know. So we’re just at the beginning of that change. But I think to start that change is better than never having started it.”
Obi-Wan Kenobi debuts two episodes of the series on May 27, with subsequent episodes arriving each week on Disney+.