Star Wars Director Teases John Williams’ “Magical” Obi-Wan Kenobi Theme

After 17 years, Ewan McGregor is finally returning to a galaxy far, far away this Friday. Obi-Wan Kenobi‘s first two episodes are premiering on Disney+, and fans cannot wait to check in with the beloved Jedi. In addition to McGregor, the new series will also feature the return of Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader as well as Joel Edgerton as Owen Lars and Bonnie Piesse as Beru Lars. However, the actors will not be the only familiar thing about the new limited series. Deborah Chow, who directed two episodes of Star Wars: The Mandalorian, helmed the new series and she recently spoke with Jake’s Takes about the return of another famous name in Star Wars: composer John Wiliams. 

“We were incredibly lucky, honestly, so fortunate,” Chow explained. “It just sort of worked out because he just had this very narrow window where he had a little bit of time. I think the biggest thing, and the biggest reason, was because – looking at all the trilogies – Obi-Wan was one of the few characters that he had never written a theme for. So he came on just to write the theme, and we were so lucky it worked out. For me, Star Wars and John Williams, it wouldn’t be the same without him. It’s so inextricably tied, and also emotionally, it is Star Wars with John Williams, so we were just so grateful. We heard it recorded live with an orchestra, and I think for everybody, it was so emotional. It felt very classic right away, where it felt like, ‘This has always existed.’ So it was pretty magical actually hearing that.” You can watch the interview below:

In addition to the returning prequel stars, Obi-Wan Kenobi‘s cast will also include Kumail Nanjiani, Indira Varma, Rupert Friend, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Sung Kang, Maya Erskine, Simone Kessell, and Benny Safdie. The show will take place ten years after Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith and nine years before the original Star Wars.

“I think because it was a TV show, the beauty of it because it’s a series is that we’ve got longer to tell the story,” McGregor recently said in a press conference. “But because [Deborah Chow] directed them all and it’s her singular vision throughout, it did feel like we were just making one movie. And the episodic nature of our series, it falls really cleverly in the storyline, but it is one driving narrative. I think The Mandalorian feels more episodic if you like because it suits that storytelling. And it of course has a driving storyline through each season, but ours is like a movie that just happens to be split up into these episodes. That’s how I feel about it.”

Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi debuts on Disney+ on May 27th.