Obi Wan Kenobi: who stars in the cast with Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen in new Disney Star Wars series?

The casting announcements follow on from previous news that Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen will be reprising their roles as Obi-Wan and Darth Vader respectively.

Obi Wan Kenobi has been hotly anticipated by Star Wars fans around the world ever since the series was announced at Disney's D23 Expo in 2019.

Which actors will star in the series?

The new cast was announced via social media and will include Indira Varma (Game of Thrones), Joel Edgerton (Boy Erased), Moses Ingram (The Queen’s Gambit), Bonnie Piesse

(The Vow) and Kumail Nanjiani (Silicon Valley).

Other new faces will include Simone Kessell (Reckoning), Rupert Friend (Homeland), Benny Safdie (Uncut Gems), Rupert Friend (Homeland), O’Shea Jackson Jr (Straight Outta Compton) and Sung Kang (Fast & Furious).

Deborah Chow was also announced as the series’ sole director after having worked behind the camera on a couple of episodes of The Mandalorian.

What will happen in the new series?

According to the show’s creators, the new series will begin 10 years after the events shown in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.

In Revenge of the Sith, Kenobi faced his greatest defeat: the corruption and downfall of Jedi apprentice and best friend Anakin Skywalker, who turned into evil Sith Lord Darth Vader at the end of the film.

In the original Star Wars films, Obi Wan Kenobi was played by Alec Guinness and acted as a mentor to Anakin Skywalker.

So far, there’s been no mention of whether divisive character Jar Jar Binks from the original films will be making a re-appearance in the show.

Where can I watch the show?

Production is set to begin on the show in April 2021, and, when released, will be available exclusively on Disney+, a paid subscription service.

The series was initially put on hold in early 2020 as the concept of the show was re-written.

It was reported that the show was set to focus on Obi-Wan protecting Baby Luke, but this was thought to be too similar to previous spin-off series the Mandalorian.

Further details about when Obi Wan Kenobi will be released are pending.

Are there other Star Wars spin-offs?

The Mandalorian, another spin-off of the Star Wars franchise, debuted along with the release of the Disney+ streaming platform in 2019.

The series consisted of eight episodes and was met with generally positive reviews. It was also nominated for Outstanding Drama Series at the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards and won seven Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards.

The second season premiered on October 30, 2020, with a third season in pre-production.

The Mandalorian begins five years after the events shown in Return of the Jedi (1983).

It follows title character Pedro Pascal, a lone bounty hunter, who goes on the run after being hired to go after “Grogu”, otherwise known as “Baby Yoda”.

Baby Yoda became an internet sensation after the series was released, with memes and images of the cute character going viral online.