Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi Rumor Suggests The Inquisitors Return

A new Star Wars rumor suggests that the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi event series on Disney+ could be bringing back some major villains that have not yet made their live-action debut. The villains in question are none other than The Inquisitors, who made their debut in the Star Wars Rebels animated series. After one cast member of Obi-Wan Kenobi posted an Instagram story of her lightsaber training, fans got curious. Now word is coming down from some Star Wars scoopers that what fans saw in that video was an Inquisitor honing her craft. On the long list of Star Wars project rumors, this one makes a lot of sense.

The Steele Wars show had on Corey Van Dyke of Star Wars scoop/discussion outlet Kessel Run Transmissions. It’s Corey who is dropping the soft-scoop that Obi-Wan Kenobi cast member Moses Ingram (The Queen’s Gambit) was actually showing off her Inquisitor lightsaber training in that Instagram Story. Ingram was seen using a blue lightsaber for her practice session – but that could’ve been purposeful misdirection so that she could tease fans without spoiling her true villainous role. The caveat here is that Van Dyke admits that he currently only has one source on this “confirmation” of Moses’s role as an Inquisitor, and is in the process of fully confirming it with secondary sources.

Star Wars‘ Inquisitors are a collection of Force-sensitive dark side agents who worked for Emperor Palpatine. Their mission was simple: hunting down (and usually killing) any Jedi in the galaxy that survived Order 66. Their leader was the Pau’an warrior known as the Grand Inquisitor, who hunted Jedi Kanan Jarrus, his Padawan Ezra Bridger, and eventually Ahsoka Tano, during the early days of the rebellion. Kanan beat the Grand Inquisitor in a duel, and the villain allowed himself to die, rather than face Darth Vader in failure.

Since Rebels introduced them, Inquisitors have taken on an expanded role in Star Wars lore. They appeared in the Darth Vader comic series, where we learned how Palpatine positioned them as both subordinates and potential rivals for Vader. The various Inquisitor members (referred to as “Brother” or “Sister” with a corresponding number) have shown up in various “Reign of the Empire” era projects, such as the novel Ahsoka or the popular in-canon video game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. That game hammered home the tragic way that some Jedi were bent and broken by the Emperor to become his Inquisitors. Other Force-sensitives simply embraced the dark side and joined that dark brotherhood voluntarily.

As stated, since the Obi-Wan Kenobi series is set during the Reign of the Empire era, it only makes sense that whatever mission Obi-Wan (Ewan McGregor) embarks on to face Darth Vader also has him cross paths with the Inquisitors. The show needs some intense action, after all, and Obi-Wan vs. The Inquisitors certainly counts as intense action.

Star Wars Obi-Wan Kenobi is now in production. It will stream on Disney+.