It seems the current name of the game with the upcoming Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi is relentless teasing. While the folks in charge are maintaining their tight lips regarding all the important bits, eager fans have been subsisting on the odd little nugget of information graciously knocked off the table by the actors. The latest to do so is Sung Kang, recurring star of the Fast & Furious franchise and all-around lifetime Star Wars nerd.
Kang recently spoke about his time on the limited series, not only gushing about his ingrained love of Star Wars, but also offering a brand new piece of info for all the fans begging for just a smidgen. It seems as though lightsabers will obviously play a role in the show, as they have with everything Star Wars-related over the years. But aside from Ewan McGregor’s long-awaited return as Obi-Wan Kenobi himself, it seems that a new face will get to enjoy that same privilege.
Speaking with ScreenRant, Kang revealed something surprising about his still unknown character (after gushing about his eternal status as a Star Wars fanboy, anyway). “I used to dress up in the cheap K-mart plastic Halloween costumes, Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, almost every single day from 8 to 13 years old,” he said, offering some insight into his childhood that many will find relatable. “My friends and I would play pretend, we would make our own lightsabers out of toilet paper centers and stuff like that and paper towel cardboard, and to be able to be on set and see Darth Vader and see the Star Wars Universe in front of me, I mean – just as a fan to be able to be part of that history is pretty amazing. I kept pinching myself to go, ‘How did I end up here?’ and, my character has a lightsaber, to go, ‘What? This is… It’s not a toy. It’s actually the real thing, right?’ so pretty cool.”
Those words aren’t a clever Sith deception. While the world still has yet to know the actual identity of Kang’s character, fans everywhere can finally know that he wields a lightsaber. This goes pretty well in hand with rumors that his character would actually be a Sith Inquisitor sent to hunt Obi-Wan down. For those unfamiliar, the Inquisitors were a group of elite warriors trained by Emperor Palpatine to eliminate any Jedi who escaped the Order 66 purge. As former Jedi themselves, the Inquisitors are uniquely skilled in tracking down their former comrades. So the idea of one showing up on Obi-Wan Kenobi is sure to tease plenty of delicious suspense.
Aside from his appearances in the Fast & Furious series, Kang also made waves in the TV series Power. But in an interesting twist, his character Han Lue from the Fast & Furious franchise was actually introduced in a 2002 movie directed by Justin Lin called Better Luck Tomorrow. When Lin came on to direct 2006’s The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, he decided to bridge the 2 movies by making Kang’s character consistent across their continuities. Thus, Better Luck Tomorrow retroactively became Han’s origin story.
Now that the history lesson is out of the way, it’ll be exciting to finally see Kang show up in Obi-Wan Kenobi. He’s already a fantastic actor with a great screen presence, but knowing how engaged he is with the Star Wars franchise in a way that many fans can easily relate to is sure to make the role that much more entertaining to watch. Here’s hoping he gets to stay a while before receiving the traditional Inquisitor’s farewell (death by lightsaber and/or Force shenanigans).
