He already established himself going lightspeed as a guy named Han in the Fast & Furious movie series. He’s Sung Kang, an actor from Georgia who brings an extra dose of cool to every TV or movie project he’s a part of. Thanks to Disney and Lucasfilm, he’s now going to be a part of the Star Wars universe. He and a host of other actors were announced this week as Disney revealed the key cast of the six-part event series Obi-Wan Kenobi, which begins filming soon. Ewan McGregor has been tied to the project for years, finally to reprise his role from the Star Wars prequels as an older Jedi Master. Joining him from the prequels is Hayden Christensen as Anakin or Darth Vader, along with Joel Edgerton as Luke Skywalker’s Uncle Owen Lars and Bonnie Piesse as Aunt Beru. The real question the cast announcement raises in light of last year’s appearance of a de-aged Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker in The Mandalorian is: How could Lucasfilm not give Hamill an appearance in this series, too? Sure, he’d be a kid whining about spare parts at Tosche Station, but why not?
Sung Kang is not only an established presence in the action genre, he’s someone–like newly minted Star Wars veterans Carl Weathers, Giancarlo Esposito, Katie Sackhoff, Michael Biehn, Rosario Dawson, Donnie Yen, and Mads Mikkelsen–who so obviously belongs in the Star Wars universe as the next star hopper. If you haven’t seen him in the Fast & Furious movies, it’s time for a binge-watch of the series. After years in TV and film roles, it’s that series where his stardom took off. He’s since appeared in Bullet to the Head, the reboots of Hawaii Five-O and Magnum, PI, Whiskey Cavalier, and Code 8, among other genre roles.
Other actors joining the series include Moses Ingram, who you should know by now as the tough and loyal friend in The Queen’s Gambit, comedic actor Kumail Nanjiani (Stuber, Community, The X-Files), Indira Varma (Luther, Torchwood, Carnival Row), Rupert Friend (Hitman: Agent 47, The French Dispatch, The Death of Stalin), O’Shea Jackson, Jr. (Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Just Mercy, Ingrid Goes West), Simone Kessell (Xena: Warrior Princess, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Farscape), and Benny Safdie (Good Time, Pieces of a Woman). Other than the key cast, specific roles have not been announced. Let’s hope someone squeezes in a Chewbacca, Han, Biggs, Ackmena, Jaxxon, Valance, Maul, Thrawn, or Camie appearance, too, along with some familiar faces from the cantina. Those band members must have a story, right?
Disney has not announced a projected release date for Obi-Wan Kenobi, but with 2021 dates already calendared for Star Wars projects The Bad Batch (May 4) and The Book of Boba Fett (December), this seems to be a likely 2022 series for Disney+.
C.J. Bunce / Editor / borg