I am legitimatly curious about the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi Disney Plus series. But why? I’m not a big Star Wars fan and did not enjoy the prequels. Yet the return of Ewan McGregor has me intrigued.

I can’t be the only one that didn’t like three of the biggest hyped films of all time yet am willing to give a miniseries on a premium streaming service a chance. I can’t be the only one that doesn’t exactly understand why I’m intrigued.

Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith was released May 19, 2005. Recommend If You Like writer Tony Beasley and I saw the film the night/early morning it was released. Tony was my editor at our college paper and we used our late night screening as an excuse to co-write a review of the film for one of our final editions. So is that why I’m intrigued? If we didn’t do this, would I be planning to watch Obi-Wan Kenobi?

Rather than keep asking questions to myself, I decided to ask Tony.

Brandon Wetherbee: I remember being legitimately excited, maybe even hopeful, about Episode III. Were we? Is this a false memory? Did I just want to like something that was so omnipresent? 

Tony Beasley: It’s a real memory, we were both excited and hopeful it was going to be a good movie and deliver on the promise of the first two in delivering a cool Darth Vader origin. And remember we are talking pre-Marvel, pre-DCU, pre-Nolan Batman, etc. This was the biggest movie event of our lives up to that point, really. 

BW: We were only excited because we had a platform to get our opinions out ASAP? This was 2005, pre-Facebook, pre-Twitter. People actually read our college paper. Do you think we would have gone to a midnight (it was midnight, right?), screening of this film if we didn’t have that outlet?

TB: It was definitely pre-Facebook-as-we-know-it. (Does Livejournal count as social media?) It was even beyond midnight if I recall correctly – 2 or 3 a.m. I honestly think I was looking forward to it regardless of the column waiting to be written. Had to see it. 

This reminds me that earlier that year, I reviewed Constantine for the paper and was in the same screening as Roger Ebert. My review for that movie complained about the spate of recent comic book adaptations. If we only knew. 

BW: Does any part of you like Keanu Reeves more because he’s currently not part of the MCU/DC/Star Wars Universe? Does it make you like Ewan McGregor less? 

TB: A big part of me likes Keanu more for this reason. He’s Wachowski-verse and Lionsgate-verse. 
I think McGregor gets a pass / grandfathered in. Signing up to do Star Wars in the 90’s was different from agreeing to do it today. You were just getting hired by Lucas back then to do a project that, for better or worse, sprung entirely from his brain and wasn’t the fully corporatized stuff that Disney churns out now. I’ll even give him a pass for the Expedia commercials. It’s nice to hear his voice. 

BW: I completely agree. His voiceover in the Obi trailers has me considering watching the series. I’m far from a Star Wars super fan. Hell, I’m barely a fan, I still haven’t seen Episode IX. So why am I interested in Obi? Is it just McGregor? Or am I hoping this Blade Runner-inspired mini series redeems a 2005 film I really hoped would be good? 

TB: I haven’t seen Episode IX either. Tries one day – did not get past the opening scrawl. I remember turning it off and rewatching Michael Clayton instead. 

The Obi-Wan trailer has me more interested than I thought it would. I have watched both seasons of The Mandalorian and genuinely enjoyed it for the most part (I mean, Werner Herzog was a character) but skipped the Boba Fett show. Making something look like Blade Runner is always a sure fire way to get me to pay attention – even worked for Detective Pokémon. 

The idea of which nostalgia this show is tapping into is very interesting. You and I grew up in the wake of the zeitgeist of the original trilogy. But we now have people who are adults and grew up in the zeitgeist of the prequels, which are now roughly as old (17 years) as Return of the Jedi was when Phantom Menace came out (16 years). I’m open to what Obi Wan has to say, but I’m not sure I am ready for the prequels to be retconned as good movies. 

BW: What if redeeming bad film and TV becomes its own genre? McGregor is an extremely capable actor. Disney prints money. There’s no reason this can’t work and become the cash cow equivalent of Twin Peaks: The Return.

Is there something poetic or just right that the latest LucasFilm entity is looking at a not-so-great era with rose colored glasses? In other words, are we in a never ending American Graffiti loop?

Apologies for all the questions. I just think I’m where you are. Who is this for? Why does this exist? Does it have any right to be good?

TB: I feel strongly that these shows and movies all exist purely for one reason: to get fans excited for the next show or movie. There is no end. Every Star Wars and Marvel thing will somehow end with Luke Skywalker or Yoda or whatever, or have a mid-credits scene setting up six more movies. Does that mean it can’t be good? No – The Mandalorian was good and fun to watch. But there is definitely something depressing about it. The culture has shifted from enjoying the thing itself to enjoying the discussion of the IP brand strategy of the thing and the investor day reveal of the next 10 years’ worth of projects.

All that said, will I watch Obi-Wan? Sure.

BW: So what you’re saying is choose life? Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pishing you last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked-up brats? You have spawned to replace yourself. Choose your future. Choose life. Is that it?

TB: That’s right. You could say I have a lust for life. 

BW: Does your oldest watch any Star Wars related stuff?

TB: Nope. I’ve been told he might like Clone Wars but we haven’t tried it. 

He is aware of who Chewbacca is, though. He asked me a few days ago, “What’s the Sasquatch in Star Wars called again?”

Recommend If You Like is not owned or funded by a billionaire or even a millionaire. We do have a Patreon. Even sites owned by billionaires and millionaires have Patreons so please don’t hold that against us. And we’re paying all of our writers, photographers and graphic designers. So please consider our Patreon. If you can’t afford to become a patron, please sign up to our mailing list. It’s free and we’re asking here instead of a pop-up. Pop-ups are annoying.