Legendary “Star Wars” Composer John Williams Wrote the “Obi-Wan Kenobi” Theme Song
Outside of George Lucas, there are few people as deeply connected to the Star Wars galaxy as composer John Williams. Now, Variety confirms that the legendary composer has created the theme song for Obi-Wan Kenobi, the highly-anticipated upcoming series on Disney+. Williams is only three years removed from work on his 9th Star Wars film, The Rise of Skywalker, and there is no one alive better suited to nail the musical signature for Ewan McGregor’s return to the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi, which he last played in Lucas’s third and final prequel film, 2005’s The Revenge of the Sith.
Variety reports that Williams has already constructed the theme song for the show, which he recorded last week with the Los Angeles orchestra. The five-time Oscar winner (including for Best Original Score for Lucas’s first entrant, 1977’s Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope) has nabbed an Oscar nomination for the three original films and the three films in the sequel trilogy. Yet he rarely composes for television, so getting him for Obi-Wan Kenobi, even if he feels like the only possible choice, is a major coup.
Whether or not Williams plucked the theme he wrote for Obi-Wan from the original trilogy when he was played by Alec Guinness, or, if the theme will be connected to McGregor’s younger version of the character in the prequel trilogy, is a mystery. He could have combined both themes, or, perhaps he’s written something entirely new. What we do know is nobody outside of the folks in the Los Angeles orchestra and the Obi-Wan Kenobi team has any idea.
Williams remains incredibly busy into his 90th year (he just had his birthday on February 8), including composing the score for Steven Spielberg’s upcoming personal drama The Fabermans and for the fifth installment of Indiana Jones (due in 2023). Then there’s his work conducting live music, which he’s doing with the Vienna Philharmonic in March, the Philadelphia Orchestra in April, the Pittsburgh Symphony in April, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic in September.
Obi-Wan Kenobi not only features the return of McGregor as the venerable Jedi in the years after Revenge of the Sith but also sees the return of Hayden Christensen to the role of Anakin Skywalker, who goes by another name by the time Obi-Wan picks up—Darth Vader.
It’s still unknown who will be composing for Obi-Wan Kenobi‘s six episodes, but we at least know the theme song will be coming from a musical Jedi master.
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Featured image: Ewan McGregor in “Obi-Wan Kenobi.” Courtesy Disney+.
