The force is strong with Obi-Wan Kenobi in the teaser trailer for the upcoming Disney+ series about the beloved “Star Wars” hero.
Perhaps even a bit too strong. The first look at “Obi-Wan Kenobi” finds the Jedi master (Ewan McGregor) on the run a decade after the events of “Revenge of the Sith,” in which Kenobi’s protégée Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) transformed into Darth Vader and nearly destroyed the Jedi order.
“The fight is done,” a beleaguered Kenobi says in the trailer for the six-episode limited series, released on Wednesday. “We lost.”
But the titular Jedi still has his eyes on a padawan in the making as he watches over a young Luke Skywalker on the deserts of Tatooine, long before the two cross paths at the start of the original “Star Wars” film.
We know Kenobi survives in the intervening years ― Alec Guinness plays a much older version of the character in the original “Star Wars” trilogy. But he’ll still have to evade the reach of the Empire after Vader tasks a group of red lightsaber-wielding baddies to hunt him down across the universe.
Set to composer John Williams’ score “Duel of Fates,” memorably used in “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace,” the trailer sees Grand Inquisitor (Rupert Friend) and force-sensitive Inquisitor Reva (Moses Ingram) tangle with some familiar faces, including Joel Edgerton, reprising his role as Luke Skywalker’s uncle Owen Lars.
Deborah Chow, who previously helmed multiple episodes of “The Mandalorian,” directed the series with a script from writer Joby Harold.
Additional cast members include Indira Varma, Kumail Nanjiani, Sung Kang, Simone Kessell, Maya Erskine, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Benny Safdie and Bonnie Piesse, who played Skywalker’s Aunt Beru in the prequel trilogy.
Christensen will also reprise his role as Vader ― whose signature heavy breathing can be heard at the end of the trailer ― in addition to reportedly appearing in the separate upcoming series centered around his apprentice, fan favorite character Ahsoka Tano.
“Obi-Wan Kenobi” premieres May 25 on Disney+, the 45th anniversary of the theatrical release of “Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope,” which first introduced the character.
Watch the teaser trailer below.