Obi-Wan Kenobi is set to feature the iconic Jedi Master battling it out with Darth Vader, but that won't be the only foe he faces. The Disney+ series will also introduce a live-action take on The Sith Inquisitors and their leader, The Grand Inquisitor, will be instantly familiar to Star Wars Rebels fans.
Played by Jason Isaacs, the fearsome villain pursued Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger through the Galaxy and proved himself a worthy addition to the Star Wars canon. There's been some backlash over the character's live-action appearance, but most fans are just excited to see him kicking some ass. Rupert Friend will play this iteration, but he was understandably keen to put his own spin on the villain.
"I really wanted to honor the character as I saw him, and so I almost deliberately did not see the animated interpretation," he admitted. "Myself and [director] Deb Chow and [writer] Dave Filoni and all of the guys really wanted to do something fresh that honored and was faithful to the spirit of the character without doing a kind of impression of anybody else's interpretation."
As for how he found The Grand Inquisitor's voice, Friend added: "It was interesting because, as I say, I deliberately didn't want to sort of use anybody else's interpretation of this character. So it was really something that I felt very instinctively when I read the script. And one of the lines that [Joby Harold], the writer, had written was when the Grand Inquisitor speaks, he's a being who enjoys the sound of his own voice. He's one of those guys who, if you didn't stop him, would just talk and talk and talk."
When it comes to what we can expect from this version of the character, the actor chose his words carefully but dropped some hints about how The Grand Inquisitor interacts with his boss, Darth Vader.
"In his mind, he's on a par with Vader. He's not. Obviously, Vader would probably kill him. But I think it would be quite an interesting fight. Because you've got this idea of a fearsome guy, this Grand Inquisitor, who yes, reports to Vader. And I do think he respects the hierarchy and the order of command. But I think if there were ever a slip-up, he would be waiting in the wings."
We know how The Grand Inquisitor's story ends, of course, but there's still an awful lot that can be done with the character in live-action moving forward. With just a week to go before those first two episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi hit Disney+, it won't be long before we see Friend's take on the villain!