Controversial ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ is strong on character, lore | Filmaniacs | Entertainment

Both Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen who, respectively, played Kenobi and Darth Vader in the prequel trilogy reprise their roles, a casting choice highly praised by the fanbase despite criticisms of Christensen ‘s wooden acting twenty years earlier.

The show — set midway between the events of “Revenge of the Sith” and “A New Hope” — was lauded as a reunion for Vader and Kenobi as the former sought to destroy every surviving Jedi and the latter lives out his days in exile.

Viewers were less than enthusiastic when they learned about another central villain, an imperial inquisitor played by actress Moses Ingram. Early reports indicated that part of the series would focus on Ingram’s character experiencing a redemptive story arc.

This prompted the fan base to worry if this was going to be another Lucasfilm bait and switch. The Boba Fett series, which aired last November, was less concerned with the titular bounty hunter and instead spent most of its runtime focused on Ming-Na Wen’s assassin character, Fennec Shand.

“Kenobi” doesn’t exactly bait and switch, but it’s clear that either the writers or show runner, Deborah Chow, weren’t sure exactly how to effectively write Reva as a sympathetic villain needing redemption. Her backstory wasn’t established early or well enough to make audiences care and there wasn’t enough screen time to flesh out the arc.

Like any show based on a popular IP, “Kenobi” came under criticism on social media platforms. Most comments voiced concern over the aforementioned switcheroo, even expressing concern if the Reva character was necessary. LucasFilm took to the official Star Wars Twitter account, excusing the criticism as racism, as Ingram is Black.

While Ingram herself did receive some racist and hateful direct messages on social media, the commentators themselves were not representative of the fanbase as a whole. That, however, didn’t stop LucasFilm from demeaning and insulting the entirety of the fanbase by lumping in racists with those with genuine criticisms.

Alienating and angering a fanbase is the last thing an entertainment company should do — especially if they want to continue marketing to said individuals.  This counter-intuitive tactic feels like a poor decision on the part of LucasFilm head Kathleen Kennedy, especially as she’s already received some flack for her handling of the franchise since the Disney buyout.

However, all that aside, the series wasn’t terrible. There were some fantastic character driven-scenes — especially the interactions and lightsaber duels between Kenobi and Vader. The last interaction between the characters is absolutely the best scene in the entire series.

The dialogue in these scenes is powerful, expressing the motives and emotions behind two legacy characters who haven’t interacted with each other within the story for ten years. Vader’s hatred and rage mirror Kenobi’s regret and broken heart to a T.

If you’re a fan of Star Wars, you may enjoy this series regardless of some of the franchise’s more woke decisions. All six episodes are currently streaming on the Disney+ platform.