‘Star Wars’ Doesn’t Need ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Season 2

Rumors have begun to circulate that Lucasfilm and Disney+ are considering a second season of Obi-Wan Kenobi. This certainly makes sense, given that Obi-Wan Kenobi was one of the biggest streaming hits for Disney+, and the return of Ewan McGregor in a fan-favorite role is likely to draw more viewers than original characters like those seen in Skeleton Crew or The Acolyte. Yet Obi-Wan Kenobi was also a widely divisive show, as many criticized the series’ creative and storytelling choices, notably the decision to adapt what likely would have worked better as a feature film into a six-episode streaming series.

The idea of Ewan McGregor returning as Obi-Wan Kenobi in 2025 no longer holds the same appeal as it did in 2022. Despite McGregor still being exceptional in the role, Star Wars should not move forward with Obi-Wan Kenobi Season 2. In all honesty, they should not return to the well of spin-off films and television series featuring former franchise characters. Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Book of Boba Fett, Solo, and Ahsoka have demonstrated how limited those ideas are, both in terms of storytelling and in their niche appeal for audience engagement. The franchise is too reliant on looking back instead of paving a new way forward. Obi-Wan Kenobi Season 2 is the last thing Star Wars needs right now.

Obi-Wan’s Story Is a Dead End

Obi-Wan Kenobi

Release Date

2022 – 2022-00-00

Network

Disney+

Writers

Stuart Beattie

The major issue with Obi-Wan Kenobi returning for Season 2 is what exactly remains of his story to tell. Ewan McGregor thinks there are still stories left to tell. Obi-Wan Kenobi has already depicted the rematch between the famed Jedi master and Darth Vader, which, depending on who you ask, either solves a plot hole from Return of the Jedi or now creates one for Star Wars, as all of Vader’s lines imply he has not encountered Obi-Wan Kenobi since Revenge of the Sith.

Obi-Wan Kenobi also can’t have the character go off-planet again, since part of his character is supposed to be staying on Tatooine to watch over Luke Skywalker, which loses some importance if he leaves regularly. While Obi-Wan Kenobi Season 2 could be set entirely on Tatooine, it seems like, after the disappointing reaction to The Book of Boba Fett, Star Wars will likely avoid a single planetary set series, and notably one centered around the most overexposed planet in the series. It remains puzzling why Obi-Wan Kenobi, a series with a built-in reason to be set on Tatooine, wasn’t, whereas The Book of Boba Fett was, despite the latter possibly benefiting from exploring other planets.

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The series could dedicate an entire season to Obi-Wan learning under the Force Ghost of Liam Neeson’s Qui-Gon Jinn, but that sounds like a small-scale, introspective season of television. Neeson’s return in Obi-Wan Kenobi was met with great fan excitement, and audiences would undoubtedly love to see more of Qui-Gon Jinn, but is that enough? Kenobi’s final encounter with Darth Maul was already depicted in Rebels, and if the trend of Disney live-action movies has taught us anything, simply adapting something to live-action is not a sufficient justification. The truth is, the exciting parts of Obi-Wan Kenobi’s story are done and accounted for.

‘Star Wars’ Needs To Learn To Move On

Disney+

Obi-Wan Kenobi Season 2 seems likely because Lucasfilm and Disney had planned to feature Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan ever since the idea was first pitched as a film. When news broke that Lucasfilm was considering an Obi-Wan Kenobi movie in 2017, it was assumed it would be similar to Rogue One and Solo, a standalone one-off film with no sequels to break up the releases of the more serialized sequel trilogy. However, writer Stuart Beattie revealed that he had plans for an Obi-Wan Kenobi trilogy of films. Yet, as outlined previously, it doesn’t feel like there is much of a story to tell about Obi-Wan Kenobi that hasn’t already been explored in animation or even in comics.

Lucasfilm considering an Obi-Wan Kenobi trilogy, or even a Season 2 of the series, speaks to a larger issue Star Wars is having regarding moving on from pre-established characters. This isn’t a “let the past die” situation, because even The Last Jedi doesn’t fully believe that, since it is said by the film’s villain, Kylo Ren. No, this is more than Star Wars needs to grow beyond the same characters if it wants to survive in the future. The best proof of this is both the sequel trilogy and The Mandalorian.

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Despite bringing back original trilogy actors to reprise their iconic roles, the sequel trilogy also created lovable new heroes and villains who became fan favorites. Characters like Rey, Finn, Poe Dameron, BB-8, Rose Tico, and Kylo Ren have plenty of storytelling possibilities to explore, and audiences do want more of them that could carry over into future projects. Disney is currently working on a Daisy Ridley-led Rey solo film, expanding on a new character they created, similar to Andor, which builds off the character Cassian Andor from Rogue One — a character not in the original trilogy but now a key part of the Star Wars mythology.

The Mandalorian has introduced two new characters, the titular hero and Grogu, who have become the new faces of the franchise for an entire generation. Even people who don’t watch The Mandalorian are familiar with Grogu. They are so popular that they’ve been upgraded from a streaming series to a feature film with The Mandalorian and Grogu in May 2026. These new characters are great in their own right, but allow Star Wars to move beyond its original core cast of characters, so the franchise isn’t stuck with deep-fake de-aged Luke Skywalker and AI-generated voiced Darth Vader.

Star Wars Has an Uncertain Future

Disney+

Kathleen Kennedy recently outlined Star Wars’ plan moving forward, which is to focus on more standalone stories, ones built around new characters that don’t connect to the broader universe but could grow into their unique corners of the franchise. That sounds exciting and delivers on the promise of the cantina scene in Star Wars, which suggests that this is a galaxy filled with heroes, villains, and aliens from a thousand worlds, each with their own unique stories. Star Wars needs more of that, and fewer retreads of the same old characters like Obi-Wan Kenobi. So far, that appears to be the plan moving forward, with Starfighter focusing on a new group of characters, Simon Kinberg writing his trilogy of films, and James Mangold’s Dawn of the Jedi feature film. If the case is to establish new stories, why renew Obi-Wan Kenobi?

Everyone loves Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi. He is the best proof that Star Wars should not be afraid to recast beloved characters from the franchise. He had a remarkable tenure as the character, often outshining many of the films and television series in which he was featured. But between multiple film appearances, animated series episodes, books, comics, and his Disney+ series, there has been plenty of Obi-Wan Kenobi. It’s time to let him go and build on other characters that can carry the franchise forward. Instead of Obi-Wan Kenobi Season 2, maybe Skeleton Crew Season 2? Or renew The Acolyte? Just a thought. Obi-Wan Kenobi is streaming on Disney+.

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