Finally, after months of speculation and fan frustration, it's official: the Obi-Wan Kenobi TV show has a concrete release date.
Announced on social media on Wednesday (February 9), Disney and Lucasfilm confirmed that the Obi-Wan Kenobi TV series would land on Disney Plus on Wednesday, May 25, 2022.
The release date reveal was accompanied by a wonderful looking poster, which shows Obi-Wan striding across the sand dunes of Tatooine, the legendary Star Wars planet. Take a look at the one sheet below:
Obi-Wan Kenobi, a limited Original series, starts streaming May 25 on @DisneyPlus. pic.twitter.com/XCV1xQZhDRFebruary 9, 2022
Interestingly, then, Obi-Wan's launch date won't coincide with Star Wars Day – aka the annual day of celebration for all things Star Wars, which takes place on May 4. Nor will it arrive earlier in May, as we predicted in our Obi-Wan release date piece. Instead, it'll be released 45 years to the day that Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope landed in theaters in the US, which is a cool little tribute in itself.
In a press release, Disney and Lucasfilm reaffirmed where the TV series would sit on the main Star Wars timeline.
The show, which will see Ewan McGregor reprise his role as the legendary Jedi, is set a decade after Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith. The six-part series will follow Obi-Wan as he continues to struggle with his greatest defeat – the destruction of the Jedi Order and his inability to save former Padawan Anakin Skywalker, who has turned to the Dark Side and assumed the iconic role of Darth Vader.
McGregor reunites with Hayden Christensen, who will reprise his role as the Sith Lord from the prequel trilogy. Eternals star Kumail Nanjiani, Game of Thrones actress Indira Varma, Bright star Joel Edgerton, and Revenge of the Sith's Bonnie Piesse are also among the show's supporting cast.
For more Star Wars content, read up on why it's time for Lucasfilm's sci-fi franchise to move away from desert planets like Tatooine. And, while you're here, check out our Book of Boba Fett season finale coverage, including what its post-credits scene means for the future of the Star Wars universe.
Analysis: Forever Obi-Wan-ting a trailer
While it's a relief to finally learn when Obi-Wan's TV show will debut on Disney Plus, there's still one major thing we're waiting on: a trailer.
So, where is it? Well, it's likely that Disney and Lucasfilm have held it back for a bit so The Book of Boba Fett can enjoy its final moments in the sun. The latest Star Wars TV show only ended on February 9, so it deserves to be in the spotlight for a little longer.
That said, it's odd that Obi-Wan's release date and official poster would be revealed if Lucasfilm and Disney weren't planning on releasing a teaser some time soon. And it just so happens that there's a little thing called the Super Bowl, where studios show off new trailers and TV spots for their upcoming movies and TV series, taking place on Sunday, February 13.
Could we get our first proper look at the Obi-Wan Kenobi TV series during Super Bowl LVI's half-time show? It's possible. The hype surrounding The Book of Boba Fett will have died down by then, and Star Wars fans will be eager to see the first footage from Obi-Wan's show.
Fans on numerous Star Wars-related Reddit pages believe that a trailer will be debuted during the Super Bowl – and we're inclined to agree. With so many eyes glues to TV screens across the US (and the globe), it's the perfect time to show off the series' first teaser.
We're only three and a half months out from Obi-Wan's first episode, too, so we need to see something soon to whet our appetite. Give us a first look at the Star Wars series, alongside an official trailer for Amazon's Lord of the Rings TV show, and sci-fi and fantasy fans will be dining hard come Sunday night.
We've reached out to Disney for comment on when the Obi-Wan teaser trailer may be released, and we'll update this article if we hear back.
