The Bearded Trio

Now that some time has passed since the finale, I feel like I can place the series Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi into its proper context. As I have written in this space many times, I have anticipated this project like no other in recent years. For me, it delivered all I could have hoped for, and then some. It is easily my favorite Star Wars of the Disney era. Part VI of the series aired June 22, and we saw a refreshed and renewed Obi-Wan defeat Darth Vader in an epic lightsaber duel, we see Princess Leia safely returned to Alderaan and Reva, in a roundabout way, renouncing her evil ways in deciding at the last moment to not kill an unconscious Luke Skywalker on a Tatooine hillside. But this series spoke to me in other, much more profound ways than just the usual parts of Star Wars that endlessly fascinate me, like the story, visuals, music and characters. We are all unique individuals from one another, and so we all establish connections to outside material in our own way. Obi-Wan Kenobi...

My grandmother was fond of saying "the older you get, the faster time goes by." To her point, we are already just a few days away from the end of Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi , the limited series currently streaming on Disney Plus.  Part V set the stage for the finale, with Obi-Wan, Leia and the small Rebel cell led by Roken (O'Shea Jackson, Jr.) escaping Darth Vader and the Inquisitors. There are a multitude of potential storylines playing out in potentially many different ways in next week's finale. And that's exactly one of the things I am enjoying most about this series. We know what we know - Obi-Wan, Darth Vader, Owen and Leia all survive, obviously. But it's the question of "how" that intrigues me. It was the same dynamic as the Prequel Trilogy. We pretty much know the who and the what. It was the how that was endlessly compelling to me. There has been a lot of loud discourse around this series. Which is not a surprise to anyone who has paid atte...

Wednesday morning saw the beginning of the second half of Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi on Disney Plus, and Part IV advanced the plot significantly while providing a lot of fun look-backs at aspects of the saga as well as look-aheads for some of the characters in the show. There were so many neat callbacks, I decided to separate them into short lists. The Phantom Menace Obi-Wan swims underwater on the planet Nur to access the Fortress Inquisitorious. He uses the same kind of rebreather device we see him and Qui-Gon use to get to Otoh Gunga early on in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (1999). Attack of the Clones I wonder if this bit will come up in one of the final two episodes. It also finds threads in two different Star Wars films. As Reva interrogates Leia on Nur, she covertly places a tracking device on Leia's droid Lola. Lola typically lights up with a blue light, but in the episode's final shot, her eye port lights up red, indicating it is in tracking mode for the Empire. In S...

One of my favorite "bumper sticker" sayings is that conflict in relationships almost always results from expectations not being met by one side or the other. I like that line of thinking because it can apply to almost any kind of relationship. As it pertains to this post, I am thinking about the relationship between fans of an Intellectual Property (IP) and the IP itself. I am thinking of this in relation to the premier of Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi , which is just one week from today. The story of Obi-Wan Kenobi between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope is the one as-yet untold Star Wars story I most want to see told, and it's the one I most would want to take a crack at as a writer. The story of a Jedi who reached the greatest heights of his craft, only to suffer a failure of galactic consequences. And to make it worse, he has to live with the guilt of his failure for another 20 years. Ah, there it is. You see it? Me laying out my own expectations for this show, and t...

Brad’s April Escape - Part 7 April 13 - Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith Each weekday this month, I’ll screen a film from The Bearded Trio Cinematic Universe and list 10 random scenes, characters, musical cues or performances that I particularly enjoy and look forward to upon every viewing. I’d love to hear similar little things you enjoy about these films, and hope you join me in this escape from the present-day world. Next up is a film that beautifully wraps up the Prequel Trilogy,  Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (2005) Revenge of the Sith - An Introduction No in-theater experience has emotionally moved me like Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. About 20 minutes after I left the theater on my first viewing, I bawled like a baby for about 3 minutes, under the realization that this was it. Star Wars was over, and my God, what an awesome conclusion. Yes, The Clone Wars animated series had been announced, so I knew the brand would have a future, but in terms of the saga on...

Guest Blogger, Brad Monastiere Writes About The Much Anticipated Obi-Wan Series And Explains How It's Perfect For TV In recent years, Star Wars news has tended to act like rainstorms over here in the United States. Weeks and weeks of drought followed by Biblical flooding. At D23 in late August, we Star Wars fans had our moment of continuous - if joyous - downpours. Lucasfilm, who received some criticism for its lack of reveals at the San Diego Comic Con, absolutely hit it out of the park with announcements. The announcement of the Obi-Wan Kenobi TV series wasn’t just a home run. It was a hit ball that left the stadium that won the World Series of all-time for me. I normally chafe against expectation stories, particularly when it comes to Star Wars projects. Expectations can often lead to disappointment, and the typical fanboy online outrage, which I fundamentally reject. But on to the subject at hand, and that’s the Obi-Wan Kenobi TV series slated for Disney-Plus and will...

We try to stay away from rumours and unconfirmed stories on The Bearded Trio but this one comes from a reliable source such as The Hollywood Reporter and if true then it would be quite a popular result. Director Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot) is claiming that he is in early talks with Lucasfilm about developing a movie based around Obi-Wan Kenobi .   Sources for The Hollywood Reporter say that their is no script as yet and if a deal is made, Daldry would oversee the development and writing with Lucasfilm brass. There is much speculation about the movie including at what part of Obi-Wan's life would the movie be centred around.  The popular Jedi was featured heavily in the Star Wars movie and especially in The Clone Wars TV series. We must stress that this is still unconfirmed and please take the story as unofficial.  It may be completely false.  Currently we've had nothing from Lucasfilm and no press release on the subject. Of course we will keep you post...