Star Wars Comic Cover Inspires Obi-Wan Outfit in Kenobi Finale

Warning: this story contains spoilers for Wednesday’s Obi-Wan Kenobi episode “Part VI.” Obi-Wan (Ewan McGregor) has a new outlook — and a new outfit — in the Kenobi finale. After a climactic rematch between Obi-Wan and Darth Vader (Hayden Christensen) ends with the Sith Lord’s defeat, the Jedi Master returns to Tatooine to save a young Luke Skywalker (Grant Feely) from Reva the Third Sister (Moses Ingram). But it’s not a lightsaber that vanquishes the vengeful dark-sided Inquisitor: it’s her mercy. In the final moments of “Part VI,” a more hopeful Obi-Wan Kenobi emerges on the sands of Tatooine, doing away with his weathered robes for a lighter tunic more befitting of a Jedi.

Obi-Wan’s new outfit appears to be inspired by the comic book cover of Marvel’s Star Wars #15 (2015), written by Jason Aaron with a cover by artist Mike Mayhew. See the comparison below.

In issue #15 of the canon comic book series set between the events of A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, Jedi-in-training Luke Skywalker uncovers Obi-Wan’s journal documenting the Jedi Master’s solitude on Tatooine. “From the Journals of Obi-Wan Kenobi” recalls “Ben” Kenobi’s years as Luke’s silent protector and a clash with the boy’s uncle, Owen Lars, which inspired the heated exchange between Ben and Owen (Joel Edgerton) in Obi-Wan Kenobi episode “Part I.”   

A decade after Anakin Skywalker fell to the dark side in Revenge of the Sith, Kenobi begins with Obi-Wan “rather broken, and faithless, and beaten,” McGregor previously told Entertainment Weekly. “[He’s] somewhat given up. He’s different because of what’s happened at the end of Episode III with Order 66 and the Jedi Order being slaughtered and everyone who survived going into hiding. After dealing with his personal failure with Anakin, he feels the responsibility that he allowed Anakin to be tempted over to the Dark Side.”

Through his encounter with a young Princess Leia Organa (Vivien Lyra Blair) and their allies from the secret Jedi network The Path — Tala (Indira Varma), Roken (O’Shea Jackson Jr.), and Haja (Kumail Nanjiani) among them — and Reva’s turn from the dark side, Obi-Wan’s faith is restored nine years before he mentors Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) in A New Hope. 

Starring Ewan McGregor, Moses Ingram, Rupert Friend, Joel Edgerton, Bonnie Piesse, Indira Varma, Sung Kang, Grant Feely as young Luke Skywalker, Vivien Lyra Blair as young Leia Organa, and Hayden Christensen as Darth Vader, all six episodes of Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi are now streaming on Disney+.