Disney+ 'Obi-Wan Kenobi' Series Marks a First For 'Star Wars' Franchise

Who’s excited about the new Obi-Wan Kenobi series coming to Disney+?

We’re guessing a lot of Star Wars fans are counting down the days to the premiere of the first two episodes on May 27th. We’ve already seen a trailer and a first look at Darth Vader on the show, but it’s not just the action that will be noteworthy — the musical score will also mark a historic moment for the Star Wars franchise!

The show’s score is by Natalie Holt — the first woman to ever score a live-action Star Wars project! In an interview with Vanity Fair, Holt spoke about her process and how she collaborated with John Williams on the music for Obi-Wan Kenobi.

In the interview, Holt spoke about how she was already a huge Star Wars fan who appreciated the work of legendary Star Wars composer John Williams from an early age. Her process of scoring for Obi-Wan Kenobi started with a two-day marathon of watching footage from the series that wasn’t even “fully cut together at that point.”

In partnership with Williams, Holt said that they, “just spent that time together, and talked through the journeys of all the characters and what needed to happen.”

After that, she spoke about trying to come up with themes she felt were “catchy.” Holt said, “I had some time to just interrogate what the theme should be for each of the characters, and then bring them to life and put them to picture. Getting to record here in L.A. on Fox’s Newman Scoring Stage with the most talented musicians in the town, it’s just been a dream. I’m working with the same orchestra that John Williams uses as well—all of his key players were playing for me.”

Referring to the score as an “emotional” one, Holt also spoke about collaborating with John Williams, who wrote a new theme for Obi-Wan Kenobi for the series. Williams had contacted Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy about wanting to create a theme for the character, so Lucasfilm made it happen.

When asked to describe Obi-Wan’s new theme, Holt said, “It’s reflective, and it’s just entirely appropriate. And it distills what the show is about in just the perfect way that John Williams can. It’s wistful, but there’s an element of hope to it. It’s doing something new and I think people are going to be really blown away by it.”

Many musical genres affected the rest of the Obi-Wan Kenobi score with Holt mentioning Latin music for one of the planets, along with other influences like Thai, Hong Kong, and Eastern.

Fans will finally get to hear Holt’s compositions when Obi-Wan Kenobi premieres on Disney+ on May 27th. And, we’ll be looking out for more details on the new series as its premiere approaches, so be sure to stay tuned to AllEars for the latest!