The subsequent Star Wars TV present pits Obi-Wan Kenobi towards his enemy Darth Vader. However that is not the solely conflict of titans coming to your display this week. Rival streaming companies Disney Plus and Netflix go face to face because the Obi-Wan Kenobi miniseries and Stranger Issues season 4 each premiere on the exact same day: Friday, Could 27.
Disney Plus hadn’t even launched when Stranger Issues started on Netflix in July 2016. We have watched the youngsters from Hawkins, Indiana, deal with teen angst and Upside Down monsters on this 80s-influenced monster hit. Against this, Obi-Wan Kenobi sees Star Wars star Ewan McGregor choose up his lightsaber for the primary time in 17 years. Choices, selections!
We requested CNET’s staffers which of those two sci-fi epics they’re most psyched to see. Which is able to you select….?
Howdy there
A lot as I like spending time within the neon glow of Stranger Issues, I am extraordinarily wanting to comply with outdated Obi-Wan Kenobi on some damned-fool idealistic campaign. Star Wars is irresistible, McGregor has solely gotten higher within the years since Revenge of the Sith and director Deborah Chow helmed a few of The Mandalorian’s best episodes.
I would fortunately watch Obi-Wan simply wander round Tatooine for six episodes, nevertheless it positive seems to be like he’ll have to point out some Imperials who’s boss. It may be epic.
— Sean Keane
Flip me the wrong way up… once more
I like Star Wars, however I am extra enthusiastic about Stranger Issues. And earlier than you boo me, let me clarify. We all know Obi-Wan can be high-quality. There isn’t any rigidity, hazard or thriller about what is going on to occur to him. We already know he falls to Darth Vader aboard the Demise Star, so Luke and the crew can escape. Any rigidity or sense of hazard inside Obi-Wan’s present is undercut by the truth that we all know how his story performs out.
The story of Eleven and the remainder of our Hawkins gang, however, is a thriller. We are able to guess and speculate, however we do not know. I need to be no less than somewhat stunned about what occurs. That is what’s pulling me to Stranger Issues.
— Zach McAuliffe
The Stranger Issues gang get stranger in season 4.
Netflix
A troublesome alternative
That is a tricky alternative. Each attraction to my Gen-X DNA. Fashionable Star Wars merchandise really feel so over-warmed and designed-by-committee that I can not think about something stunning. From the trailers, Obi-Wan (the present) seems to be like The Guide of Boba Fett, which appeared like The Mandalorian, and many others. Apparently house is… largely desert.
Stranger Issues does really feel prefer it ran out of concepts after the primary two seasons. Generally it is OK to say: “We have performed sufficient, we have advised our story, let’s exit on high.”
I did go to the in-person Stranger Issues Expertise in NYC a number of weeks in the past, nevertheless, so perhaps I am all speak. Complaining and overanalyzing is a pivotal a part of fandom, in order that’s simply my manner of claiming I will be watching each.
— Dan Ackerman
A Celebration
I’m actually excited to observe each of those reveals sooner or later, however Obi-Wan will completely be coming first, and actually for me it comes all the way down to timing. Stranger Issues was one of many first horror-adjacent issues I might watch with my youngsters, one in every of which is now deeply joyful to take a seat and luxuriate in something spooky. And the current teases that this subsequent season goes to lean darker actually has me curious. However as I write this, I am presently double-checking the items of my Jedi robes I’ve spent the final month assembling for the Star Wars Celebration conference occurring on the identical day as the discharge of Obi-Wan. So, clearly, that is going to be one thing I am going to want to observe first to keep away from any spoilers on the con.
— Russell Holly
Assist me, Obi-Wan
Ewan McGregor is Obi-Wan once more.
Star Wars/Disney Plus
That is most likely sacrilege, however Stranger Issues has by no means actually performed something for me. Proper from the beginning, I did not have a lot emotional connection to these Eighties retro touchstones like The Goonies or Dungeons & Dragons. Possibly I am lacking out, however I have not watched it for the reason that first season.
However Ewan McGregor with a lightsaber? That’s extraordinarily my jam. Star Wars TV reveals have been a mixture after the wonderful Mandalorian and the plodding Guide of Boba Fett, however Obi-Wan is a personality who simply exudes that massive display Star Wars magic. In my thoughts, the franchise is crying out for a few of that power. And if the primary episodes aren’t so nice? High Gun: Maverick is in theaters this weekend, and that is quite a lot of enjoyable.
— Richard Trenholm
It is pulling us in!
Given the historical past, I’m 100% positive that Stranger Issues can be a greater season of tv. Moreover a number of dud episodes, the Duffer brothers have barely put a foot mistaken with what has in the end turn into one of the crucial influential TV reveals within the brief historical past of streaming tv. I’ve cherished Stranger Issues with each fiber of my being.
However sadly, Star Wars is Star Wars. Like a decaying draugr, ambling awkwardly within the route of brains, destiny has decreed I have to flay myself as soon as extra on the altar of George Lucas. Like most long-term Star Wars obsessives, I am obligation sure to observe this present the second it drops. Additionally like most Star Wars followers, I am obligation sure to complain about it on-line.
I totally anticipate that Obi-Wan can be disappointing and underwhelming, however I can be there from day one, desperately hoping to be “whelmed”.
— Mark Serrels
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False nostalgia is best than the true factor
I am too traumatized by the sight of Disney cannibalizing an precise cultural artifact that I as soon as cherished, so the nostalgia-lite various of Stranger Issues looks like simply the precise repair. Give it some thought. You get the perfect of each worlds: the sensation of familiarity in a precision-tailored ’80s interval piece, with out truly seeing one thing you liked from that point became a belabored money cow that may solely wheeze “finish me” with a glance of desperation in its eyes. Stoked, y’all. Simply stoked.
— Rae Hodge
The reality is usually what we make of it
I do not assume there is a dangerous alternative right here, as a result of each of those reveals appear like they’re going to be a good time. That stated, I am so pumped about Obi-Wan, it form of scares me. Star Wars stuff has been hit-or-miss these days, and this present is playing on one of many very best and most iconic characters within the franchise. And but I can not assist however be excited. Ewan McGregor was the one vigorous, entertaining a part of the prequels — think about what he can do with a greater script and route. Positive, I might fear about whether or not Disney is simply making this present to money in on two generations of nostalgia, or whether or not the Star Wars franchise is on the way in which out. However I like Obi-Wan as a result of he chooses to see the potential in individuals, and that is precisely what I am doing with this present.
— Adam Benjamin
It is all about technique
I am extra of a Stranger Issues individual (sadly did not watch the Star Wars films rising up), however I plan to observe Obi-Wan first. Why? It is all about technique. Obi-Wan solely premieres two episodes on Friday. I am going to binge these, then head straight to Stranger Issues land. Sure, I watch manner an excessive amount of TV.
— Jennifer Bisset
Wild card…
I will be watching Kick Like Tayla, thanks very a lot. Amazon Prime in Australia delivered the perfect sports activities documentary you most likely have not seen final 12 months, known as Making Their Mark. It adopted Aussie-rules footy golf equipment through the pandemic 12 months in 2020 and it was a revelation for a league usually fairly reserved about what goes on behind closed doorways. It confirmed the unfiltered and uncooked emotion of taking part in on the highest stage, going behind the scenes at each the struggling golf equipment and the eventual champions. Oh… and there was a ton of truthful dinkum Aussie swearing at the whole lot.
So, I am hyped for this followup, which covers the ladies’s competitors and one in every of its main stars, Tayla Harris, who was trolled and abused after a photograph of her actually simply kicking a soccer went viral in 2019. It will be nice.
Stranger Issues is far more thrilling than Obi-Wan, although.
— Jackson Ryan
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