Why the Upcoming 'Kenobi' Might Be More Important and Crucial Than 'the Last Jedi' for the Star Wars Franchise

Star Wars: The Last Jedi hit theaters this past December and, of course, became another huge blockbuster for the franchise. Some may call it divisive to due a metric that is unstable, but for most people, it was one of the greats in 2017. Rian Johnson did an amazing job by killing the old so the new may thrive. Some didn't like it, but it was important for Star Wars as a franchise to grow and give the new characters the spotlight in the never-ending war in a galaxy far, far away.

Now it's time to look to the future to see if Star Wars has the same staying power as that of Marvel Studios, meaning it's time to dip their toes in different genres, and it all starts with Kenobi—or more accurately, Solo—but the word around the geek community is that it probably won't succeed. And sadly, that makes sense, given that we're about five months out, and we still haven't received a trailer to see what we have in store come this May.

And none of that matters if they can hit a home run with Kenobi; by giving us a classic Western mixed with romance and a good old revenge tale to boot. If I was a writer/director in Hollywood, then I'd be salivating at the chance to take one of the most beloved characters in the history of fiction, and I wouldn't turn him grizzled and mean, but simply more human, and this is how I would do it:

Ben falls in love.

This would be his Hero's Journey. In The Clone Wars, we saw how dedicated Obi-Wan was to the Jedi—and then mixed that with his loyalty to his ex-Padawan, Anakin, and his son, and that's a nice recipe of guilt and other thoughts on why Kenobi thinks he's not worthy of love. But unlike the tedious relationship between Vader and Padme, this one needs finesse in order for it to work.

And then, all those long desert nights finally make him crack, and he soon finds out that he's going to be a father. This would put a lot of strain on Obi's mind. It would make for a great movie, having Kenobi constantly battling one's conscience, but that's not the only battle in store for Obi-Wan: No, a Dark Side user has been visiting his parts to try to find the Old Jedi Master—none other than Darth Maul, and he leaves only one victim to pass on his screaming message: "Kenobi!"

That's right, we'd finally get a rematch to the classic duel in The Phantom Menace. But after all that death and bloodshed, Kenobi's lover sees the man he really is, and she leaves him. All that fighting and death would've been for nothing, just like his time with the Jedi. This would be a very grim note to end on, but this would show another side of the Jedi; men and women who cannot escape what the Jedi Order made them, which would then tie in nicely with The Last Jedi and Luke's sentiments towards the ancient order.

Wait, that one Maul battle?

Now, I know what you're thinking: But Maul faced off with Kenobi in Rebels. But y'see, after another defeat by the hands of Kenobi, this could mentally break Maul once more, and Kenobi could theoretically wipe his mind because continuity is one of the keys to the Star Wars saga. Also, so many more people see movies compared to an animated television series, therefore this is a smart move for Disney to have Maul be the man in black in Kenobi.

So, Obi-Wan falls in love and must protect not only his wife, but a village from the savagery known as Maul, and he loses everything. What even could add to the intensity is the fact that he must keep all this a secret from the Skywalkers...If they want to go down this route. It all depends how complicated the filmmakers want to make Kenobi.

And lastly, skip to 30 years later and we see a man and a woman hand over their only daughter for money to a man with pudgy hands. Star Wars could keep it vague, or this could be the story of Rey's lineage. Hey, the Jedi could be susceptible to drug addiction, just saying, or they might've never known that they had the Force all along.

Would you go see this movie?

Darth Maul

This could be one of the most epic Western battles of all time.