Maya Erskine, creator, writer, and star of Hulu’s PEN15, is joining the cast of the highly-anticipated Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi. Variety announced the addition of Erskine to the cast, saying that she will be in at least three of the show’s six episodes.
Erskine joins a cast that already includes the return of Ewan McGregor as Kenobi and Hayden Christensen as Darth Vader. Also announced for Obi-Wan Kenobi are Joel Edgerton, Rupert Friend, Moses Ingram, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Sung Kang, Simone Kessell, Kumail Najinani, Bonnie Piesse, Benny Safdie, and Indira Varma.
Details about Obi-Wan Kenobi are still scarce, but the series is said to take place 10 years after the events of Revenge of the Sith, and nine years before the events of A New Hope. The series will center around Kenobi after he has lost his friend and Jedi apprentice, Anakin Skywalker. The new series will be directed by Deborah Chow, who previously directed episodes of The Mandalorian’s first season.
Erskine has most recently done voice work for 2020’s Scoob!, as well as for animated series like Bojack Horseman, Bob’s Burgers, Crossing Swords, Robot Chicken, and Big Mouth. Erskine will also set to star in the film Sacramento, with Michael Cera and Michael Angarano. Part 1 of PEN15’s second season debuted last September, with the second part of the season coming at a later date.
In addition to Disney+’s The Mandalorian, and its various spin-offs in development, Obi-Wan Kenobi is one of many series in the works that focus on characters from past Star Wars projects. Lucasfilm also currently has Andor, based on Diego Luna’s character from Rogue One coming in 2022, while Dear White People creator Justin Simien is also making a Lando series for Disney+.
Obi-Wan Kenobi is currently in pre-production, with filming believed to start soon.