Obi-Wan Kenobi ended its miniseries run on Disney+ earlier this week, finally giving longtime Star Wars fans a look at what Ewan McGregor’s titular, beautifully bearded Jedi was up to between the first two trilogies. The show’s garnered a mixed reception overall—well, as far the reception that’s actually legitimate—and for some, there’s a hope that Star Wars will now be able to move on. Not just from Tatooine, the New York of this franchise in that every other show or film is set in it; but also in subject and style, for lack of a better word.
To say that Star Wars is a little too in love with its history may be “first time eBay seller” generous. Even without the Sequels and everything about them now hanging over the franchise, the last few years have feels like the franchise is doing a Q&A hosted by overly obsessive lore hounds. Filling in gaps on the timeline is all well and good, and has led to some legitimately great moments in Star Wars storytelling. But Disney’s refusal to do anything that isn’t just filling out a Wiki page is starting to be a little tiring, and the original freedom that was partially promised by the early days of The Mandalorian no longer exists. We’ve got to spend time seeing live action versions of cartoon characters, learn more about one-and-done characters and what they did before their emotional death, or people who’ve cheated death and now can’t stop causing trouble in a familiar location.
Right now, the only real outlier seems to be The Acolyte, set in the era of the High Republic, with nary a Skywalker or Palpatine in sight. It may sketch out some of the timeline leading up to the Prequels, but High Republic overall has felt more interested in making things matter in the moment than decades or centuries down the line. The various writers and artists appear to be making the most of that time period, and what’s fun about is what kind of shows and games could spawn from it now that it’s established a solid foundation for itself.
For this week’s Open Channel, we wanna know what you want from Star Wars and its future as a TV property going forward. Less Jedi, more than likely, but what else? A workplace comedy set in the time of the New Republic, a Sith/Jedi romcom during one of the Visions shorts? Let us know in the comments below.
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