Obi-Wan Transforms From Jedi Knight to Medieval Knight In Star Wars Fan Art
Artist Jake Bartok’s latest Star Wars fan art continues his reimagining of Obi-Wan Kenobi as a medieval knight, featuring interpretations of both the Clone Wars era and original trilogy versions of the character. The clever reimaginings reflect the recent wave of fan devotion to the character since the announcement of the upcoming Disney+ series Obi-Wan, which will see Ewan McGregor take on the role again for the first time since 2005’s Revenge of the Sith.
While Obi-Wan has been a widely beloved character since Star Wars first debuted in theaters, the building anticipation for the Disney+ show and the mixed response to the sequel trilogy’s conclusion with The Rise of Skywalker have sparked a resurgence in Kenobi-centric nostalgia. Fans continue to debate in the wake of the Skywalker Saga’s climax which of the prequel and sequel trilogies is the better. But while that discourse rages, Obi-Wan Kenobi remains one of the few things in Star Wars that all fans seem to agree on – be it his original iconic portrayal by Alec Guinness – a knight in his own right – McGregor’s charming younger Obi-Wan, or James Arnold Taylor’s spectacular vocal performance as the character in The Clone Wars.
Following up on his recent art of Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan as a medieval knight and squire duo, artist and illustrator Jake Bartok has shared two new pieces on Twitter, this time showing older versions of Obi-Wan from the original trilogy and the Clone Wars era, respectively. The newest picture shows a graying Kenobi, somewhere midway between McGregor and Guinness, with a drawn hood, sheathed sword, and fragments of armor over his leather and robes. The other piece shows Obi-Wan much as he appeared in Revenge of the Sith, but bedecked in full armor and brandishing a massive knight’s shield and broadsword.
“Old Ben Kenobi is the latest in the series. Making him also the third Obi-Wan design in my medieval series,” Bartok writes in his post, which also features his original piece showing Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon together. Like in that original picture, Obi-Wan's sword here emits a faint blue glow, with a hilt design reminiscent of his lightsaber. In both of the new pictures, he sports shoulder armor emblazoned with the sigil of the Jedi Order – a possible allusion to his Clone Wars look, where he wears light armor over his Jedi robes that include a similar shoulder piece.
With few new details on Obi-Wan’s production, fan work like Bartok’s will have to temporarily tide fans over. The show is set eight years after Revenge of the Sith, but not many plot details have been officially revealed. Recently, reports have surfaced that the series might feature a young Luke and Leia, and even that Hayden Christensen could return to reclaim the role of Anakin Skywalker – who he voiced during The Rise of Skywalker’s climactic Jedi-voices scene, alongside McGregor.
No matter what specific content the show ends up covering, it seems primed for success after the near-unanimous fan and critical praise for The Mandalorian season 1. Despite a truly spectacular cameo appearance in Star Wars: Rebels to wrap up the saga of Darth Maul, most of Obi-Wan’s time in exile remains entirely untold. For the rest of his knight's tale, fans will have to keep waiting.
Source: Jake Bartok