Obi-Wan Kenobi arrives on Disney+ May 27, where it will continue to expand upon Star Wars canon like previous shows The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. But while each of those series centered on previously unknown or minor characters from the franchise's trilogies, Obi-Wan Kenobi tells a new tale from the life of one of the galaxy's most infamous individuals.

Ewan McGregor returns to reprise his role as Obi-Wan from the prequel trilogy, and to answers questions which still linger in fans' minds about what happened to the Jedi Master between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. Not only will the Lucasfilm series cover a new chapter in his life, but it will also introduce elements new to live-action Star Wars, such as InquisitorsObi-Wan Kenobi is directed by Deborah Chow, who previously received praise for the episodes of The Mandalorian which she helmed.

Related: Every Jedi Alive During Obi-Wan Kenobi’s Timeline

Screen Rant spoke to Chow about what makes Obi-Wan Kenobi different, how she collaborated with Ewan McGregor on crafting the most suitable world for his character, and why the series needed a touch of the Dark Side.

Ewan McGregor in Obi-Wan Kenobi Show

Screen Rant: Congrats on the series. This is the first live-action Star Wars series where we're getting away from The Mandalorian of it all. In what ways did you feel like you had to or were able to differentiate from what we've seen in a live-action series before?

Deborah Chow: I think one of the things that was the most special about this series is that we were doing a limited series, and that's something that they hadn't done before. And we're also really focused on one character. So, it was a much more character-driven story that we've been trying to tell.

For me, I was really excited about the idea of really getting to go deeper into the character and have the time in the limited series to do it.

What I love is just seeing how much the show is reignited or ignited the prequel love for a lot of fans. There's so much good supplemental material between Clone Wars, comics and novels. Is there anything that you found really was a valuable resource to you?

Deborah Chow: It's interesting, because obviously, I've done a pretty deep dive when I first started this project, and I did look at a lot of the stuff in the extended universe.

I think one of the things that was actually really meaningful was that there's a statue of Kenobi roughly during this period, and there's something about the statue - it just felt very visually like it was encapsulating the tone and the emotion and the feel. So, it was something that I continually had in my office and continually look at it just to kind of feel the tone as much as possible.

Speaking of the tone, working on Star Wars in the first place has to feel so surreal. But then to have a theme composed by the one and only John Williams, what was that experience like?

Deborah Chow: I honestly can't believe how fortunate we were to get him to agree to do this. It was pretty remarkable. I think one of the things that happened is that, when he was looking at this project, Obi-Wan was one of the only characters he hadn't written a theme for. And we were just very lucky that he had a very small window of time in which he could do it. So much about Star Wars is the John Williams music, and you just feel it emotionally in a way that you can't in any other way. We were so lucky to have him be part of this.

The first time you heard it, what did you think?

Deborah Chow: It was incredible, honestly, and also, I heard it recorded with a live orchestra. The best possible way. For me, it was just so perfect, and it was so emotional. But it also felt so timeless. It felt like it always existed; it was incredible.

Obi-Wan Kenobi Darth Vader

When you came on board, there was no Hayden initially?

Deborah Chow: Right. At that point, there had been obviously a lot of development before, but it was still in development stage. Apart from Ewan, there were no actors involved at that point.

How did that feel to be the one to essentially get the band back together and tell Ewan, "We're getting you guys back together?"

Deborah Chow: Ewan was very much a creative partner on the show, so he's been involved right from the get-go – and he was on this before I was. He's been with me the whole way on this, which has been amazing.

But I think, really, it came out of a place of really looking at the character [of] Kenobi, and we're so connected to the prequels, and so much of the weight that Obi-Wan is carrying is coming out of what happened at the end of Revenge of the Sith with Anakin. So much is connected to Anakin and Vader that it felt, to us, that it was hard to tell Kenobi's story at this period without touching on that. And that sort of led us, naturally, back to Hayden.

Just being in The Volume, working with these guys, was there a moment where you're like, "Alright. I gotta pinch myself a little bit."

Deborah Chow: Yeah, I mean, it's pretty amazing. These are two of the most iconic characters in cinematic history. The first time I saw either of them in costume, you just really have that moment where you're like, "Jesus, this is Obi-Wan Kenobi standing in front of me." It's pretty amazing.

I interviewed Moses earlier this morning, who was delightful. Can you tell me what she brings to the series and a little bit about her character?

Deborah Chow: Yeah. We're bringing Inquisitors into live-action, and Moses is a new character within that. But I think one of the things we were looking at is, we obviously have such a strong legacy aspect to this series that we felt like we also wanted to have some elements that were new. So much of Star Wars has always been about that for me, about getting to see new planets and meet new creatures and characters, so I was really excited to introduce Moses's character.

It was also kind of exciting to get to do sort of a young, Dark Side female, because there really haven't been that many on the dark side in live action.

I'm sure you've been asked about this all day, but I think one of the funniest rite-of-passage things for directors is they have to stop their actors from making lightsaber or blaster noises. I'm curious if you had to do that, and who was the biggest offender this time around?

Deborah Chow: I know that Ewan has, obviously, a very storied history with making noises. Honestly, between this one and Mandalorian, so many of them do it. It's very hard not to do the pew-pew with the blasters. Also, the crew does it as well.

But a lot of times when we were doing the action sequences, we were playing John Williams, so I don't even think I heard them doing it. I'm sure everybody at some point did it.

Oh! You're playing it on set during scenes?

Deborah Chow: We would when we could when, when it wasn't going to interfere with the sound. But I've just found that, because it's so emotionally connected, if Moses is doing something and we play some Dark Side music from John Williams, they all stand up two inches taller. You feel it.

That's incredible. I interviewed Ewan years ago, and we kind of joked around about the show tentatively being called "Hello There." And it just made me curious if any other titles were thrown around?

Deborah Chow: I think there were a few but, I think we wanted to keep it fairly simple. Mostly because it is about him. For us, the title was something that we just really, really wanted to make it clear. It's a show about him and it's his show.

Obi-Wan Kenobi Synopsis

Ewan McGregor In 2022's Obi-Wan Kenobi Star Wars Show

Obi-Wan Kenobi begins 10 years after the dramatic events of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith where Obi-Wan Kenobi faced his greatest defeat—the downfall and corruption of his best friend and Jedi apprentice, Anakin Skywalker, who turned to the dark side as evil Sith Lord Darth Vader.

Check out our interview with Obi-Wan Kenobi stars Ewan McGregor and Moses Ingram as well.

Next: 10 Ways Obi-Wan Kenobi Can Bring The Prequels Back Into Prominence

Obi-Wan Kenobi premieres on Disney+ May 27.