UPDATED with Disney statement: Similarities between a horrific mass shooting at a Texas elementary school this week and a massacre at a Jedi school in Disney+’s new Obi-Wan Kenobi series have led to a series of warnings being added to the Ewan McGregor-led show.
“There are certain scenes in this fictional series that may upset some viewers,” the details section of the Obi-Wan landing page currently reads on a number of accounts on the Mouse House streamer.
This is sort of a bleaching and editing of the statement that was posted earlier today.
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“Although this fictional series is a continuation of the story of Star Wars films filmed many years ago, some scenes may be disturbing to viewers given the recent tragic events,” it said. “Warning: Contains violence involving children.”
Oddly enough, the warning actually has to be looked for on the Obi-Wan site and is not found as a chalkboard at the beginning of the opening episode. The inclusion of the warning comes one day after Obi-Wan’s introduction at the Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim.
“In light of recent tragic events, we recognize that there are certain scenes in this fictional series that some viewers may find disturbing and a content warning has been added to the show’s page,” a Disney spokesperson told Deadline today. “We are also working to add a pre-series hint as soon as possible.”
The company added the first version of the current content alert early Friday, just hours after Obi-Wan Kenobi debuted. The highly-anticipated series canceled its first two episodes late Thursday, nearly three days after 19 children and two teachers were killed in a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
The scene in question is actually the first in Obi-Wan Kenobi, coming after a lengthy recap of events prior to the series’ time frame, set a decade after the events in 2005’s Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.
The scene shows the cavernous Jedi Temple being attacked by Imperial Inquisitors and Stormtroopers. Amidst the chaos and death, a female Jedi dodges blasters and red lightsabers to lead some boys and girls to safety. The teacher is knocked out and the group of less than half a dozen students decide to “run” in hopes of avoiding a similar fate.
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The harrowing scene ends with the children charging down an upper path as Jedi are massacred by Imperial forces.
Netflix did something similar for its Stranger Things season 4 premiere this week, adding a warning card about a violent scene involving children. The map appears before the Season 3 synopsis that autoplays at the start of Season 4 Episode 1, for US viewers only.
McGregor is the title character in Obi-Wan Kenobi, set between the Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope films. The six-episode series follows Obi-Wan’s life in exile on Tatooine. Star Wars prequel veteran Hayden Christensen is also back as Anakin Skywalker, aka Darth Vader.