A new rumor claims the upcoming Star Wars series, Obi-Wan Kenobi, will feature a young Leia who will be the “impetus” for the entire show.
The rumor comes from Jordan Maison at Cinelinx who claims that a young Leia will be part of the show and will be the major impetus of the show.
He explains, “I can tell you Leia is part of Kenobi in a big way.”
“In fact, from what I’ve heard, the stuff dealing with Leia is pretty much the impetus for the whole show and what gets Obi-Wan (Ben) into another adventure.”
As for who is playing young Leia, Maison claims that Lucasfilm cast Vivien Lyra Blair.
Blair previously played the young girl in Netflix’s Bird Box. She also played Serenity Jones in the Waco TV miniseries.
The idea that a young Leia would be featured on the show is not a new rumor. A casting call featured on Backstage back in December 2019 asked for both an 8 to 11 year-old boy and an 8 to 11 year-old girl.
Not only did the casting calls ask for both male and females, but it also indicated the two characters would be leads in the “undisclosed Disney live action feature.”
Maison also claims that Fast & Furious actor Sung Kang will be playing the Fifth Brother from Star Wars Rebels.
Kang was previously announced as part of the cast by Lucasfilm back in March alongside Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christensen, Moses Ingram, Joel Edgerton, Bonnie Piesse, Kumail Nanjiani, Indira Varma, Rupert Friend, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Simone Kessell, and Benny Safdie.
In an interview with Rotten Tomatoes discussing the show, Kang hints that there might be scenes of him with Darth Vader lending credence to Maison’s claim that he might indeed be the Fifth Brother.
Kang told Rotten Tomatoes, “The feeling that I get on set is every single crew member, you look in their eyes, and it’s like a kid, ‘I grew up watching Star Wars. Like this is my dream to be here, to see one of the Star Wars characters, or Darth Vader character, or, you know, one of the Jedis walking around.’ Like no matter how old they are.”
He added, “You know, it’s like guys that do my makeup and stuff, and people who do the costumes and all the set designers, there’s this feeling of legacy. and it’s like everyone talks about history and why they feel so blessed to be here, right?”
Kang went on to discuss the history, “And so there’s this history, there’s this kind of shared spirit and this passion of why we wanted to come into Hollywood, and the connective tissue is all these Star Wars characters.”
He continued, “I used to dress up, you know, in these Halloween costumes. Like, I had a Darth Vader one and a Luke Skywalker one. It was all put together with like duct tape after a while.
Kang concluded, “And the fact that I’m actually on set and they’re putting like a Star Wars costume on me? Come on dude, it’s like pinch yourself, right?”
“There’s this feeling of legacy… there’s this kind of shared spirit and this passion of why we wanted to come into Hollywood.”
F9 star Sung Kang shares how special it is to be on a #StarWars set for Obi-Wan Kenobi. pic.twitter.com/5VZnKB4IJt
— Rotten Tomatoes (@RottenTomatoes) July 15, 2021
According to Lucasfilm, the Obi-Wan Kenobi series “begins 10 years after the dramatic events of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith where Kenobi faced his greatest defeat, the downfall and corruption of his best friend and Jedi apprentice, Anakin Skywalker turned evil Sith Lord Darth Vader.”
The series will be directed by Deborah Chow, it’s been written by Joby Harold. Shooting on the series began in April.
What do you make of this new Star Wars rumor for the Obi-Wan Kenobi series?