How, exactly, could the "Star Wars" sci-fi fantasy of "Obi-Wan Kenobi"
find a way to seemingly offer up a nod to the very Earth-based,
gritty "John Wick" action movie franchise? Fans are sure it did. Keep watching.
Spoilers for the second episode of "Obi-Wan Kenobi" — and "John Wick:
Chapter 2" if you haven't seen it — are ahead.
All the Disney+ "Star Wars" shows come with some amount if franchise baggage.
On the surface, at least, "Obi-Wan Kenobi" is the most lore-laden show of them all.
After all, it focuses on Ewan McGregor's titular Jedi,
who's hiding on the desert planet Tatooine in the years between "Revenge of the Sith" and "A New
Hope." Yet the show almost immediately breaks out of this potentially suffocating mold, as
Obi-Wan decides to head off on his own adventures, which reach in some pretty peculiar directions.
"He won't be able to help it. The Jedi will hunt himself."
Since it's one of the biggest and most influential franchises in movie history, it's easy to
think that other franchises only reference "Star Wars" and not the other way around.
"Hey, Bill!" "What?" "I'm Darth Ted!"
However, a certain moment in "Obi-Wan Kenobi" Part II makes it easy to believe that this particular
part of the franchise may have actually paid homage to a more recent pop culture fixture.
Yes, some fans think that "Obi-Wan Kenobi" just dropped a sick "John Wick" reference.
Could this major "Star Wars" Disney+ show really have given a nod at the
popular Keanu Reeves assassin movie series? Let's take a look at the available evidence.
The episode features a moment in which Reva, an Inquisitor eager to apprehend Obi-Wan,
alerts the entire town on the planet Daiyu to hunt for the Jedi. Almost everyone around gets a cool
bounty hologram mass transmission. This seems very close to the excommunicado sequence in "John Wick:
Chapter 2," when John's now-former assassin colleagues learn that the hunt is on.
"In one hour, John Wick…excommunicado."
The apparent reference hasn't gone unnoticed. One fan tweeted,
"John Wick excommunicado moment in part 2 when everyone in city searching for Obi-wan."
Another simply said,
"Ep 2: John Wick meets Obi-wan."
There are also fans that feel that the announcement of the bounty
is only one part of the "John Wick" homage. Some suggest that the show's entire
vibe is essentially a big old nod to the Keanu Reeves movies. One tweeted,
"Honestly Obi-Wan doing John Wick is a real slam dunk honestly,
can't believe I'm surprised that's what they're going for, should have been obvious."
Another managed to identify the "John Wick" vibes of "Obi-Wan Kenobi" before the show even dropped,
based on the trailer alone, writing soon after the May 4 trailer release,
"Never knew I needed an Obi-Wan Kenobi show where
he's going John Wick on people but this show has me excited."
These fan observations might actually be onto something, because as it turns out, there actually
is a surprising, yet very real connection between the "John Wick" franchise and "Obi-Wan Kenobi."
Joby Harold, a writer and executive producer on "Obi-Wan Kenobi," also was an executive
producer in "John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum," the installment of the "John Wick" franchise
that deals with Mr. Wick's difficulties after he's declared excommunicado. Variety reported
Harold's "Obi-Wan Kenobi" writer gig in 2020, and he has certainly been busy.
He has writer, story, or teleplay credits on each of the show's six episodes.
Harold isn't listed as a writer for "John Wick 3," and he's obviously just
one of the many people who've been working on "Obi-Wan Kenobi." Still,
Part II's strong "lone warrior vs. the world" energy may not be a coincidence when you remember
that someone who has worked with the "John Wick" franchise was involved in the production.
You could say that Harold is something of a specialist of the "against all odds" genre,
seeing as he also executive produced the Tom Cruise sci-fi flick "Edge of Tomorrow,"
and co-wrote the screenplay for director Zack Snyder's "Army of the Dead."
It remains to be seen whether future episodes of "Obi-Wan Kenobi" continue
to nod toward "John Wick," or whether the show will veer in a completely different direction.
After all, its Disney+ predecessor, "The Book of Boba Fett,"
had no trouble devoting entire episodes to the Mandalorian, who has his own show.
Perhaps "Obi-Wan Kenobi" intends to juxtapose Obi-Wan's lonesome survival with Darth Vader's
more ruthless and high-profile missions — or maybe it will stay on the course
Part II has seemingly chosen. Either way, fans seem on board for the action so far.
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