Disney Changed 'Obi-Wan Kenobi' to Make It Less Dark

justjared.com:

The team behind Obi-Wan Kenobi are sharing some new details about the show. In an interview with EW, star Ewan McGregor and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy opened up about what happened behind the scenes to get the highly-anticipated new series up to par. Click inside to read more… Kathleen revealed that early scripts from writer Hossein Amini were very dark and the show was paused to adjust the tone, with production being delayed from August 2020 to January 2021 as new writers were brought in to craft a lighter story. “We’re looking, ultimately, to make a hopeful, uplifting story,” she said. “It’s tricky when you’re starting with a character in the state that Obi-Wan would be in coming off of Revenge of the Sith.

That’s a pretty bleak period of time. You can’t just wave the magic wand with any writer and arrive at a story that necessarily reflects what you want to feel.” Army of the Dead writer Joby Harold came in to rework the scripts, collaborating with director Deborah Chow.

The pair fully changed up the show, with Deborah telling the outlet that “we inherited some of it, but we did really make some significant changes and add a few different elements.” Ewan added that while some fans may be disappointed to hear about the change in tone, he felt the show honors the character and will still have some darker themes. “Obi-Wan is lost,” he said. “He’s a broken man after what happened with the Jedi order at the end of ‘Episode III,’ but also what happened with Anakin; that he lost him to the dark side.

He feels an enormous amount of responsibility for that, and guilt.” Obi-Wan Kenobi will premiere on Disney+ on May 25. Check out the latest teaser for the show here!