Obi-Wan Kenobi’s Grand Inquisitor actor Rupert Friend reacts to his character’s lightsaber in live-action. Obi-Wan Kenobi features Ewan McGregor’s return to Star Wars as Jedi Master Kenobi ten years after the galaxy-changing events of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge Of The Sith. Tasked with watching over Luke Skywalker as he grows up, Obi-Wan maintains a low profile on the planet Tatooine until the Empire shows up on the desert world.
Following the call for Order 66 during Episode III, Emperor Palpatine and his new apprentice, Darth Vader, recruit – forcibly or otherwise – former Jedi to their cause as Imperial Inquisitors. Specializing in hunting Jedi, the Inquisitors make their first live-action appearance in Obi-Wan Kenobi. However, the Inquisitors are not new to the franchise as they were first featured in Star Wars Rebels. Equipped with intimidating double-bladed lightsabers that can spin, the Inquisitors are a formidable enemy for any Jedi who survived Order 66.
Screen Rant recently caught up with Friend at the Star Wars Celebration Red Carpet to find out more about his character’s lightsaber as this is the first time a Star Wars character has wielded a spinning saber in live-action. See what Friend had to say about his character’s weapon below:
“Well, I can’t tell you what I do with it, because you’ll have to tune in and find out. But it’s an incredible thing to hold and have clipped onto your armor, and then presented to you by the guys who made it. Yeah, it’s a wild feeling.”
Back when the Grand Inquisitor was first introduced during Rebels season 1, it probably seemed quite unlikely that the character would ever make the jump to live-action. After all, aside from the fact that he does not survive to the end of that first season, the Grand Inquisitor’s spinning lightsaber seems difficult to translate into live-action. However, with characters like Ahsoka Tano, Cad Bane, and now the Grand Inquisitor showing up in live-action, it’s clear that Star Wars is becoming skilled at faithfully bringing characters and their weapons introduced in animation to a live-action setting.
While simply seeing the Grand Inquisitor’s spinning lightsaber in live-action is exciting, Friend’s hints that his villain is going to make good use of the weapon suggest that the series will feature lots of lightsaber-filled action. All of the Inquisitors wield a double-bladed spinning lightsaber like the Grand Inquisitor’s, so the other Inquisitors who will be featured in the series – the Third Sister (Moses Ingram), the Fourth Sister (Rya Kihlstedt), and the Fifth Brother (Sung Kang) – will certainly keep Master Kenobi on his toes when he clashes with them during Obi-Wan Kenobi.