Star Wars makes a lot of mistakes as a franchise, but the one it makes over and over is constant repetition. Cycling back on itself makes a galaxy that should feel endless small and limited, so innovation is the fuel that could keep the universe going forever. Obi-Wan Kenobi is on its way, depicting the beloved mentor to two generations of Skywalkers in the period between the two trilogies. This is the first live-action Disney+ series to take place at that particular time in the narrative, but it needs to differentiate itself in more ways than one.
On reflection, The Mandalorian may have been the most pleasant surprise the Star Wars franchise has put to screen in a long time. Starting its life as a Boba Fett film and turning it into a completely new frontier that was uncontroversially beloved, it went on an impressive journey. The Book of Boba Fett, on the other hand, was exactly the dull waste of time it was always meant to be. Evidently unsatisfied with abandoning the project, Disney felt the need to show the audience first-hand why it was such a bad idea. While The Mandalorian is an excellent series with a solid format and The Book of Boba Fett was a meandering advertisement, neither of their formulas would work for Obi-Wan Kenobi.
It's clear where Boba Fett went wrong. It's wall-to-wall with fanservice, the plot could be summarized inside a fortune cookie, half of its screen time is devoted to franchise management, and so on. Some of this is an unfortunate consequence of the premise, which Obi-Wan will be suffering from right alongside it. It's the story of an already marketable character, it returns to franchise favorite planet Tatooine, and it's all about a classic aspect of the franchise. Obi-Wan has to make some strong choices in presentation, tone, and storyline to achieve anything particularly interesting. It's exactly that lack of choice being made that makes Boba Fett such a waste. Playing into what people already love about Star Wars is clearly a strategy with rapidly diminishing returns. The new series will have to change some things.
The Book of Boba Fett got a lot of flack for entirely justified reasons, but certain subsets of the fan base had entirely different bones to pick with the attempt at gangland space western. One of the few mildly interesting segments of the series features the introduction of a biker gang of teenaged cyborgs. Their look and gear are radically different from almost any other design elements of the series, they provide some unique spin on the action segments they get into, and they're finally something original. People hate them for some reason, leading to the worst possible outcome, that Disney sees the one interesting choice made for the series as where it all went wrong. Obi-Wan Kenobi needs some confidence in its core ideas, some drastic creativity will save the show.
Taking cues from The Mandalorian would be a smarter proposition since The Mandalorian is excellent, but it's also a bad fit for Obi-Wan. The story of a new and interesting character, who remains shrouded almost totally in mystery, can't work the same way as that of an old favorite. The Mandalorian tells an overarching story of man and foundling, but it's in the background for the majority of the episodes. Most episodes of the series are one-off adventures. Hunting bounties, fighting alien monsters, exploring strange environments, most episodes could be brief movies starring Din Djarin and Grogu. Obi-Wan isn't the kind of character who needs an adventure of the week series. He needs a strong storyline, built around the character's past and future.
Obi-Wan Kenobi is set to serve as connective tissue between the prequels and the original trilogy. Fans already know so much about the character that his continued adventures are both hotly anticipated and important to the overall tapestry of the narrative. This miniseries should set out to be wholly original, especially when compared to the other Disney+ series. If anything, the show should air closer to the tone and presentation of the movies. The Book of Boba Fett has nothing to add and The Mandalorian works for the story it tells, but not for the new series. Obi-Wan Kenobi is already at risk of being boring and uncreative from the premise alone, it has to pull hard to get out of that ongoing tailspin.
The Disney+ Star Wars series are literally hit-and-miss so far, with one of each available now on the service. The problem comes from the lack of creativity on display, mixed with the immense amount of restraint Disney puts on its Star Wars content. Obi-Wan Kenobi should strive to be its own series, completely separate from the three seasons of live-action Star Wars TV that came before it.