Star Wars Legend John Williams Has Composed the Obi-Wan Kenobi Theme

Star Wars Legend John Williams Has Composed the Obi-Wan Kenobi Theme

When Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan Kenobi makes its Disney+ debut in May, the character’s theme music will be composed by one of Star Wars’ most important architects: John Williams, whose symphonic scores for the original trilogy (and other adjacent works) have long helped the series feel both epic and emotionally resonant.

The first two Star Wars series to arrive on Disney+, The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett, had distinctive themes composed by Ludwig Göransson that felt perfectly suited to the outsider characters they were hailing. It also makes sense for Obi-Wan, one of the series’ most enduring figures, to get a more classical approach. As Variety, which broke the news, reports, “it is a coup for both Lucasfilm and Disney, considering the five-time Oscar winner rarely composes for television” — although he has done it in the past (see: Amazing Stories); he also composed the iconic Olympics theme, which you can’t turn on NBC right now without encountering.

The trade notes that while Williams — who just turned 90 mere weeks ago — recorded the theme with an orchestra in Los Angeles last week, it’s not yet known who is composing the score for each of Obi-Wan Kenobi’s six episodes. It’s also not known if the Obi-Wan Kenobi theme will repurpose or reprise any of Williams’ earlier Star Wars compositions (perhaps the instantly recognisable Force theme, aka “Binary Sunset,” will sneak in there?), which also include the McGregor-as-Kenobi-starring Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith. We’ve reached out to Lucasfilm for any comment or clarification and will update this post if we hear back.

Written by Joby Harold and directed by Deborah Chow, Obi-Wan Kenobi stars McGregor as the Jedi watching over a certain young Luke Skywalker on Tatooine, along with Hayden Christensen as Darth Vader, and Joel Edgerton and Bonnie Piesse as Luke’s (doomed) adoptive parents. The rest of the cast includes Moses Ingram, Kumail Nanjiani, Indira Varma, Rupert Friend, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Sung Kang, Simone Kessel, Benny Safdie, and Maya Erskine. The first episode drops May 25 on Disney+.

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