Obi-Wan Kenobi showrunner Deborah Chow instantly contradicted herself after vowing to respect George Lucas’ vision in the upcoming Disney+ show that takes place between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope.
While discussing the famous line, “I’ve been waiting for you, Obi-Wan. We meet again at last. The circle is now complete. When I left you I was but the learner, now I am the master,” that Darth Vader utters to Obi-Wan Kenobi during their lightsaber battle on the Death Star, Kenobi actor Ewan McGregor addressed whether or not the battle on Mustafar was indeed the last time Darth Vader felt Kenobi’s presence.
McGregor told Entertainment Weekly, “Maybe,” before adding, “It’s fun. It’s very clever how all these threads are created. It’s like working backwards and forwards at the same time for the writers and for Deborah.”
As for Chow she first noted, “It was definitely something we were very mindful of.”
She then added, “And for me also taking on [George Lucas’] legacy, it’s an honor to take these characters and be able to tell a new story with them. So I wanted to be very respectful to what exists and not change anything that George intended originally or anything like that.”
However, Chow would then state, “Obviously there is room for interpretation here. And telling [the story] that they did have these 20 years, and obviously something happened in these 20 years, and that there are some things from our series where there’s going to be a little bit more room for interpretation on.”
RELATED: Kathleen Kennedy Promises “Rematch” Between Obi-Wan Kenobi And Darth Vader In Kenobi Series
Kathleen Kennedy announced at Disney Investor Day 2020, “Obi Wan Kenobi begins 10 years after the dramatic events of Revenge of the Sith, where he faced his greatest defeat, the downfall and corruption of his best friend and Jedi apprentice, Anakin Skywalker turned evil Sith Lord Darth Vader.”
She added, “Our fans will be thrilled that Hayden Christensen will be returning in the role of Darth Vader. This will be the rematch of the century.”
Chow also noted at the time, “We couldn’t tell the story of Obi-Wan without Darth Vader.”
“We will definitely see Obi-Wan and Darth Vader get into it again,” she added.
RELATED: New Rumored Plot Details Leak For The Upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi Series
Not only did Kennedy promise a rematch between Kenobi and Vader, but Lucasfilm and Star Wars actually showed off concept art showing what appears to be Kenobi battling Darth Vader on what appears to be Mustafar again.
That concept art, which can be seen below, was shared exclusively to Disney+ to promote the series.
On top of this concept art, Chow provided some details about the show in the teaser saying, “We couldn’t tell the story of Obi-Wan Kenobi without addressing Anakin or Vader.”
McGregor also adds, “Have another swing at each other, might be quite satisfying for everybody.”
RELATED: New Obi-Wan Kenobi Rumor Claims Kenobi Will Have At Least Two Battles With Darth Vader In The Series
An initial rumor from LRM Online indicated that the show wouldn’t just feature one battle between Kenobi and Darth Vader, but there would be at least two.
The website claimed, “We have heard from our sources that Kenobi and Vader will face off not once, but twice in the upcoming series!”
The site goes on to state, “The once friends, now enemies, will have two epic battles against each other that we have been told will rank at the top of Star Wars battles.”
This rumor would be corroborated by Making Star Wars that also claimed the series would have two initial fights, but also went on to provide details about those fights.
In the first fight, Vader allegedly badly injures Kenobi and even lights his arm on fire and burns it badly. However, despite these injuries Kenobi is able to escape with the help of a Resistance and is taken to a bacta tank to recover.
After waking up, he parts with the Resistance and decides to confront Inquisitor Reva and put an end to her machinations. However, before he can do that, Vader stands in his way.
A second confrontation between the two allegedly happens on Mustafar, where Kenobi will actually receive support from his former master, Qui-Gon Jinn.
Making Star Wars explained, “his is just Qui-Gon’s voice acting as Mickey from the Rocky films. Obi-Wan has his mojo back and can hear Qui-Gon now. This voice guides Kenobi and for the first time in a long time, he knows he must win because they are going to win this fight against evil.”
So it’s quite possible McGregor and Chow are playing coy, knowing that Vader and Kenobi’s last confrontation before the battle on the Death Star does indeed take place on Mustafar, but it’s not the confrontation that George Lucas showed us in Revenge of the Sith, it will be a completely new confrontation shown in Obi-Wan Kenobi.
To make matters worse the idea that Kenobi leaves Tatooine flies in the face of Lucas’ original vision for the character as he detailed during the 1981 Revenge of the Jedi Story Conference where he revealed, “Ben takes one and gives him to a couple out there on Tatooine and he gets his little hideout in the hills and he watches him grow. Ben can’t raise Luke himself, because he’s a wanted man.”
Clearly, Lucas envisioned Kenobi staying on Tatooine and watching Luke grow from afar.
What do you make of Chow’s recent comments? Do you think having Kenobi leave Tatooine respects Lucas’ vision? What about having Kenobi battle Darth Vader on Mustafar again?