Star Wars: John Williams Asked Kathleen Kennedy if He could Write the Theme for Obi-Wan Kenobi

At 90-years-old, you’d think that Legendary Star Wars composer John Williams would be happily retired, but as it turns out, the maestro is once again coming back for the upcoming series Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Talking to Vanity Fair, Kenobi composer Natalie Holt (Loki), explains how William approached Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy to write a theme for Ben Kenobi. She explains, “Obi-Wan is a legacy character that John hadn’t written a theme for because he died quite early on in A New Hope. It’s the only legacy character that he hadn’t done. So he spoke to [Lucasfilm president] Kathleen Kennedy and said, ‘I just want to write Benny a theme.’ So who can deny him that? And he did, he wrote the Obi theme, and it just embodies the spirit of the show entirely.”

We don’t know what Williams’ new theme for Kenobi sounds like yet, but it’s going to be great to know that he managed to contribute one more time when it comes to a legacy character like Obi-Wan.

Even if Williams is making the theme, Holt is still the main composer of the show, and we should expect a lot of her original work to shine in the series. She says, “For me, the tentpoles are set out by John Williams. There are elements to the show that are new and fresh, and I’ve been able to have my own interpretation with elements—that I can’t reveal. So it’s been glorious, working with my hero and also bringing my own voice to the show.”

Just looking at Holt’s work for Loki, I’m already excited to see what she can bring into Star Wars musically. While I am still bummed that this isn’t a movie, director Deborah Chow has said that she prefers this format in order to give the characters enough time to develop.

Catch Obi-Wan Kenobi when it premieres on Disney+ on May 27.