Lightsabers, for many Star Wars fans, are the heartbeat of the Star Wars universe. Children often find their love of the Star Wars franchise cemented when they “wield” Jedi or Sith lightsabers in the backyard, effectively becoming a hero like Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker or a villain like Sith Lord Darth Vader.
So, for any actor joining the Star Wars story, finding out their character will be given a lightsaber is a dream come true. Such was the case for Fast and the Furious star Sung Kang who recently made his return as Han — no, not thatHan — in F9 (2021).
The actor is set to make his Star Wars debut in the upcoming Deborah Chow special event series, Obi-Wan Kenobi, starring prequel trilogy actors Ewan McGregor (Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi) and Hayden Christensen (Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker).
Kang — whose character hasn’t yet been revealed, though many fans believe he will play the Imperial Inquisitor known as the Fifth Brother — recently shared a few details about his experience filming the show, including the fact that he does, in fact, get to use a lightsaber:
“I used to dress up in the cheap K-mart plastic Halloween costumes, Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, almost every single day from 8 to 13 years old. My friends and I would play pretend, we would make our own lightsabers out of toilet paper centers and stuff like that and paper towel cardboard, and to be able to be on set and see Darth Vader and see the Star Wars Universe in front of me, I mean — just as a fan to be able to be part of that history is pretty amazing. I kept pinching myself to go, ‘How did I end up here?’ and, my character has a lightsaber, to go, ‘What? This is.. It’s not a toy. It’s actually the real thing, right?’ so pretty cool.”
Few Obi-Wan Kenobi plot points are certain — Chow, after all, directed for the hyper-secretive Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni on for The Mandalorian — but we do know that Joel Edgerton and Bonnie Piesse will be returning as young Luke Skywalker’s Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru Lars, so presumably, we’ll get to learn more about the Tatooine farm boy’s childhood.
Furthermore, thanks to Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy’s 2020 Disney Investor Day presentation, we have confirmation that the “rematch of the century” is on the way, so fans can expect to see Kenobi and the Dark Lord of the Sith have their third lightsaber showdown.
6
Credit: Lucasfilm
