Pixar Maestro Andrew Stanton Wrote An Episode Of Obi-Wan Kenobi
Ever since "Star Wars" made its triumphant debut on Disney+ streaming with "The Mandalorian," it's certainly felt as if franchise uber-fans Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni, seemingly the heir apparent to George Lucas himself, have taken full control of the future of the series on television with "The Book of Boba Fett," the upcoming "Ahsoka," and more. At first glance, that might not appear to leave much room for any other well-known talent to make their own individual marks on a galaxy far, far away. But remember, Kevin Feige is still attached to one movie, as are Taika Waititi and others.
Another such creative force, and a very obvious admirer of "Star Wars" in years past, is Pixar veteran Andrew Stanton. Stanton is a self-professed "Star Wars" fan, and we now know he is penciled in to write (get it? Writing? Pencils? Never mind) one episode of "Obi-Wan Kenobi." The Disney+ series comes from showrunner and writer Joby Harold, with all 6 episodes directed by Deborah Chow. The fifth episode, apparently, will be co-written by both Harold and Stanton.
This exciting information comes courtesy of the Writer's Guild of America (WGA) directory, which lists each episode of the upcoming series and those credited for each one. (Strangely, it only includes five total episodes while previous reports have indicated 6 — perhaps accounting for today's earlier news that the first 2 episodes will now premiere at once?) Read on for all the details!
A long time coming
"Star Wars" and Andrew Stanton, a popular fan choice to direct any number of "Star Wars" movies over the years, certainly feels like a match made in heaven. The director has previously cited the original movie and the overall franchise as influences on his work, such as "Wall-E" (in which Stanton actually hired "Star Wars" sound designer Ben Burtt, who developed the sounds of R2-D2 and many other famous droids, to create the voice of the eponymous robot) or especially "John Carter." But after the latter film largely crashed and burned upon releasing in theaters almost exactly a decade ago, Stanton has largely stuck to contributing to various Pixar animated movies (most recently "Finding Dory" and "Toy Story 4"), television shows ("Stranger Things," "Better Call Saul," "Tales from the Loop," and "For All Mankind" included), and various documentaries.
Now, finally, Stanton seems to be making a long-awaited leap to "Star Wars." This would certainly align with a previous quote we reported on several years back, in which he expressed his wish to work in live-action once again, although more recently we had learned he was in talks to direct "Chairman Spaceman" as his grand live-action feature return. As fate would have it, a slightly different space-themed destination appears to have been in the cards first. Granted, Stanton will only be co-writing one episode (as far as we know) of "Obi-Wan Kenobi," but who's to say this can't lead to more collaborations with Lucasfilm down the line?
The first 2 episodes of "Obi-Wan Kenobi" will debut on Disney+ on Friday, May 27, 2022.