It’s official…Obi Wan is Back!

After years of speculating and finger-crossing as a result of the recently confirmed talks between Disney and Ewan McGregor, the ongoing D23 Expo finally revealed what every Star Wars fan wanted to hear.

No, not the death of Jar-Jar Binks!

But the return to form of Ewan McGregor, who is set to play the iconic role of Master Jedi, Obi-Wan Kenobi once more.

In a scripted question that was meant to get the crowd all worked up, Lucasfilm President, Kathleen Kennedy saved the revelation for last as she teased that she was bringing out a beloved member of the Star Wars family. After the slightly delayed cued music, Ewan comes out and prods Kathleen to ask him the question that a lot of people wanted the answer to.

“Kathleen, in front of all these wonderful people, can you ask me, if I will be playing Obi-Wan Kenobi again?”

We, of course, know the answer to it, because why even go through the “trouble” of having him there if he wasn’t going to announce something major and important? But just to ensure the right amount of geekgasm, I know the question just had to be asked. And where else if not during this year’s D23 Expo in Anaheim, California.

The D23 Expo is actually celebrating 10 years now. The venue over the years has always been the Anaheim Convention Center in Los Angeles, with stars ranging from Robert Downey, Tim Burton, Johnny Depp, Kelsey Grammer, Joseph Fiennes, the late (but always GREAT) Robin Williams, and even our own, Lea Salonga dropping by to grace the event.  It was only 2013 and 2015 where D23 was held at the Tokyo Disney Resort.

If you were there at the Expo, you would have seen that prior to Ewan’s appearance,  Kathleen had mapped out on a screen behind her, the Star Wars timeline, dividing them all into different Era’s, so to speak. The first 3 episodes of the Star Wars films, as well as the much-loved TV series, Clone Wars and Rebels and the much-criticized and alas not so loved, Solo, all belonged to the Age of Republic. The original film trilogy which consisted of Episodes 4 to 6, which were Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi , and the much hailed prequel, Rogue One and as well as the new show called The Mandalorian and Cassian Andor were all part of the Age of Rebellion, while the last 3 films, which are The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker, all fall under the Age of Resistance. Included in this last age are the about to be concluded animated series, Star Wars: Resistance and the recently opened theme park, Galaxy’s Edge.

D23 stands for Disney and 23 stands for 1923, the year when Walt Disney founded the company.