Hours before the Obi-Wan Kenobi series premiere, Anthony Carboni, one of the Star Wars Celebration hosts made a brief but very cool interview with Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen!
I think it was an absolute surprise to see them come out and greet the fans, certainly, I didn’t expect it. Even if they didn’t reveal anything, it was such a wholesome moment that thousands of fans around the world enjoyed.
After taking a seat, they had to wait for two entire minutes because the people were cheering so much. Ewan had some fun pointing his fingers to different places in the crowd to make them scream and cheer, you could see the joy and playfulness in his face.
When asked about his preparation, Hayden mentioned watching Clone Wars and Rebels helped him re-familiarize with the characters. Between every pause that he makes the fans keep cheering, you love to see it.
If you haven’t watched any of those shows I highly recommend that you do so, you’ll learn lots of things about Obi-Wan and Anakin’s relationship, who is Ahsoka and why she’s such an important character, Mandalorian history that directly ties with The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett, the background of the Grand Inquisitor and many, many more things.
Ewan and Hayden continued to describe how they felt when coming back for the series. “Amazing” Hayden answered.
In this and previous interviews Ewan stated that it is like time didn’t pass, despite not seeing each other for many years the chemistry was still there.
Carboni proceeded to tell them how much love the prequels and their characters are getting nowadays and asked if they’re surprised to see this kind of love compared to when the movies came out 20 years ago.
“Yeah, it’s taken a while to start to feel it, you know. I think when the films came out there was no social media, there was no sort of direct link to the audience, and also the audience were kids, you know, young people. Over the last years, I’ve started to feel the warmth for the films that we made and it’s meant a lot to us, it’s meant a lot to me personally to feel that. It was tricky at first… It’s so definitely a part of why we’re here today, why we decided to make this series for sure” – Ewan answered.
For me, this was the most important point in the interview. Star Wars fans are definitely very conservative when it comes to embracing new ideas or approaches to the franchise. We experienced it with the prequels, we experienced it with Ahsoka and the Clone Wars, and more recent projects that aren’t “approved” by a large portion of the fans.
The prequels were released when I was a small kid so I don’t remember the hate that they received from the critics. For me, it wasn’t about the script, dialogues, editing, or special fx. I just wanted to see a fun Star Wars movie. And to me, the prequels were super fun to watch (and still are).
I’m incredibly happy to see that they’re finally receiving the love they deserve, the expression on Hayden’s face speaks for itself. I think he’s still processing it!
After another cheerful interruption, Ewan commented on some of the thoughts that lead up to what we’re witnessing in this new series. This show will bridge the gap between Revenge of The Sith and A New Hope.
He also commented that originally, it was going to be a movie but it eventually turned into a series that would be directed in its entirety by Debora Chow. I think this is a very good thing, it will have one single approach and should flow consistently.
Last but not least, Hayden remarked on Vader’s inner conflict to find his true identity. Let’s remember that this is 10 years after Revenge of the Sith, this Vader is not the one we see in the original trilogy. The Vader we’re going to see might be crueler, more vicious, and with darker thoughts. It’s going to be such a thrill!
To end the interview, Carboni asked them if there’s anything they want to tell the fans before watching the first episodes, to which Hayden only answered
“This is where the fun begins”
Me, the people attending, and I’m sure thousands of people watching the stream, lost it. Everyone cheered so loud! The joy was almost palpable through the screen. I can’t believe how such a simple phrase can make us lose our minds! Every time I play that clip I can’t help but smile in the most childish way possible.
The Obi-Wan Kenobi already appears to be something very special, I don’t know how or why I have this feeling but I think we’re going to have such a good time re-visiting these characters and their lives after the tragic events of Revenge of the Sith. I can’t wait to watch all episodes!
