RUMOR: OBI-WAN Spinoff Film On Disney’s Upcoming Streaming Service

Read Time:3 Minute, 34 Second

A couple of weeks ago, one of my fellow writers here at Revenge Of The Fans put out a piece on why there is no real need for an Obi-Wan Kenobi solo film. Frankly, I strongly disagree with him- although I will absolutely concede that there was never an interest in a Han Solo movie or a Boba Fett film. But regardless of either of our personal opinions on the matter, it seems that Disney may have plans yet for Old Ben…

Rodrigo Perez of ThePlaylist reports that he heard rumors sometime ago about the potential Obi-Wan film. He wrote:

“I’d also heard, and granted, I found this to be fairly dubious at the time, was that the Obi-Wan film was going to be saved for Disney’s upcoming unnamed subscription-based streaming service; the one they hope to compete against Netflix with.“

Granted, Perez also issued caution on the rumor:

“Now, that’s a great idea. What way to make a gigantic splash with a new streaming service than to announce that a new “Star Wars” film is coming and only subscribers of the service—much like a Netflix-only exclusive—would be able to see the movie. I’m sure Disney has some kind of plans like that in the works, but whether or not that’s the Obi-Wan movie, I’m not sure I’d place that bet.

But THR’s sources are already talking about scaled-back, “reconfigured” “Star Wars” movies, so maybe it’s a possibility that a “Star Wars” movie may one day premiere on that streaming service when it’s up and running, but whether or not that’s Obi-Wan, I’ll say it, I don’t really believe that.“

If Perez’s source is accurate, I’m with Perez himself on this: Releasing an Obi-Wan film on Disney’s upcoming streaming service would be a brilliant idea. Aside from the obvious means of attracting more potential subscribers to the service, I think this approach would also likely mean the Obi-Wan film would be far, far smaller in scale than any of the previous entries in the franchise to date and almost certainly feature a smaller budget.

Which, quite frankly, is exactly what an Obi-Wan Kenobi film should be.

The difference between an Obi-Wan film versus a Solo or a Boba Fett film is that there’s a very specific window in the Jedi Knight’s life that ought to be explored on the big screen: The nineteen years Kenobi spent living on Tatooine in-between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. However such a story shouldn’t be like any normal type of Star Wars tale. It doesn’t need to be a big, fun adventure through different worlds in space or anything massive about the Rebellion, the Empire, the Light Side of the Force or the Dark Side. It doesn’t need to be groundbreaking at all (like Rogue One) or explain away how Obi-Wan became the man we know him as (like Solo).

It should be a character study.

Think of films like Dredd, Logan or Akira Kurosawa’s classic Yojimbo. Just put Kenobi in one small location through out a film for two hours with a situation he has to deal with and make it tense. Not just the action, but within Kenobi’s head: How does he handle a situation without giving away his identity as a surviving Jedi? What sort of inner demons does Obi-Wan still carry within him a decade or so after having immolated his former apprentice that participated in a genocide?

You don’t need a massive sized budget to tell a story like that. And in today’s world where Marvel Studios has found quite a bit of success with Netflix in handling its smaller scaled and more mature stories like Daredevil, releasing an Obi-Wan film on the new Disney streaming service would be the perfect way to go.

Is this rumor true? Who knows. But I hope it is, because that’s exactly what needs to be done with Old Ben. And it’s exactly why the world does in fact need an Obi-Wan Kenobi film.

Be sure to share your thoughts on the matter in the comments section down below!

SOURCE: ThePlaylist