Kumail Nanjiani has started making serious waves in Hollywood since playing Kingo in Eternals, but he's now making the leap from the Marvel Cinematic Universe to a Galaxy Far, Far Away. Very little has been revealed about his role in Obi-Wan Kenobi, and the actor has only been seen in a single frame.
As you might expect, that's led to a great deal of speculation about who he might be playing, but we now have details from Nanjiani himself. "His name is Haja," the actor tells Entertainment Weekly. "And he's this guy who works on the streets of Daiyu, which is this new Star Wars location that we haven't seen before that's absolutely gorgeous. And he's the guy who's worked really hard to stay out of the bigger conflicts at play. He just kind of wants to be his own guy. Survival for him is all that matters."
Going on to describe Haja as a "con-man guy who cons people for money," Nanjiani suggested that his charming rogue might be forced to finally do the right thing after meeting a certain Jedi Master.
"Suddenly he sort of gets stuck in the bigger conflicts at play, which is the thing that he really tries to avoid," he added, teasing fans with what they can expect. "So he is this street-level con-man guy who then gets embroiled in stuff that's way too big for him. And he has to make a choice."
We've often seen characters who aren't interested in fighting for the greater good realise the error of their ways in this franchise (look no further than Han Solo), and Haja sounds like a fun role for the Eternals star. How important he'll be to the overarching story remains to be seen, but reliable sources have previously indicated that Nanjiani was cast by Lucasfilm to play a significant part here.
Obi-Wan Kenobi will premiere on Disney+ with its first two episodes this Friday, ay 27!