Star Wars & Disney+ Rumors Begin To Swirl: Obi-Wan Kenobi As Series?

After the humbling defeat of “Solo: A Star Wars Story” is Lucasfilm/Disney retreating away from movies and pivoting towards the small screen in the world of streaming and their upcoming service Disney+? It’s possible in one sense and another, it’s already what Disney has foretold. The quick version: ‘Solo’ greatly disappoints at the box office, bloggers claim “Star Wars” spin-offs are being put “on hold,” Lucasfilm denies that assertion, then the trades report that Lucasfilm is reassessing their spin-offs and finally, Disney’s CEO Bob Iger himself says “Star Wars films would take a beat and “slowdown,” essentially a rethink approach.

What’s happened ever since? Not one new movie has been announced and two new streaming series have been greenlit in that time. First, there’s been “The Mandalorian” which we now know is essentially what the Boba Fett film turned into, and then there’s going to be a Cassian Andor, “Rogue One” prequel series too staring Diego Luna. Add one more to the pile and possibly several others. Tonight, rumors are swirling that the proposed Obi-Wan Kenobi movie—rumored to shoot this spring last year, but certainly not gearing up for production anytime soon—is headed towards Disney+ as a limited series that could be as extensive as six episodes long. It’s apparently the next “top priority.”

This is certainly an interesting rumor. For one, I myself heard a rumor that the Obi-Wan movie lost its rumored director (Stephen Daldry) and might end up on Disney+ in the first place and now with films seemingly being refitted as series (see Boba Fett/Mandalorian), it certainly sounds plausible that whatever was being planned for the Obi-Wan movie could retool for Disney+ given this appears to be the new Lucasfilm game plan.

But further rumors are churning too. Iger has said in the past that multiple Star Wars TV series were in development, and numerous new rumors allege Lucasfilm is considering several ideas. There are almost too many to list. One site claims a Lando Calrissian/Q’ira series is in the works with Donald Glover and Emilia Clarke from ‘Solo’ (another sub rumor insisting its actually Lando and young Han), another maintains a Poe and Finn series is in the works. And five other ideas are evidently rumored in the wind too: streaming series purportedly focusing on characters such as Princess Leia (young), Captain Phasma, The Knights of Ren, Rose Tico, and Darth Bane, an ancient Sith Lord first introduced as a vision to Yoda in “Star Wars: The Clone Wars.”

That would be nine shows in total and frankly sounds laughable. Frankly, some of this is BS. It’s also been rumored some of this “news” originates from what is purported to be an internal Lucasfilm survey to employees and therefore may not mean much other than, “hey, John in I.T., if you had your choice of ‘Star Wars’ spin-off, what would you like to see?”

Given the current situation: films seemingly being downscaled, or expanded if you like, into limited series, the Obi-Wan rumor sounds credible, but one should leave it at that for now. The rest? Take the chatter with a grain of salt.

What is clear though right now though. Currently, there is no “Star Wars” movie set for 2020 and it’s nearly impossible there will be one unless a secret ready-to-go movie starts shooting soon (not happening). This means streaming will have to carry the Lucasfilm banner for the next few years, “The Mandalorian,” the Cassian Andor series and whatever gets officially revealed next. The “Game Of Thrones” creators D.B Weiss and David Benioff have a “Star Wars” franchise in the works but given no details of development yet, you’re likely looking at 2021 as the earliest a new “Star Wars” movie will hit the screen following “Episode IX” this December. [StarWars.Net/HNE]