Obi-Wan Kenobi marked the first time we've seen the Sith Inquisitors in live-action, but the result...well, they were a little mixed. The villainous group looked great in Star Wars Rebels, but the translation from animation to live-action appeared to be something Lucasfilm really struggled with.
The Grand Inquisitor, in particular, looked very watered down and more akin to a cosplayer than the formidable alien character we'd seen doggedly pursue Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger. Rupert Friend basically donned some face paint, but comments from The Clone Wars and Rebels writer and producer Dave Filoni may have explained the villain's grounded appearance.
Talking to StarWars.com, Propmaster Brad Elliott recalled Filoni telling him to "Imagine the live-action came first, and that the animated material was an exaggerated version of the live action."
So, rather than trying to imitate what we'd seen in Star Wars Rebels, Elliot explains that "this gave us permission to keep the form factor of the props established in animation, but to control the proportions and to bring them more in line with props made for human hands versus animated ones."
This is really interesting as it better explains Lucasfilm's approach to the characters we first met in animation. Given how stylised some of these shows are, it makes sense to work backwards because some of the mockups we've seen of a show accurate Grand Inquisitor look more than a little ridiculous.
However, we can't help but think there was room for improvement in Obi-Wan Kenobi, so the response to that design is, hopefully, something the studio can learn from moving forward.
We don't know if The Grand Inquisitor will return in a future Disney+ TV show as none of the upcoming projects really fit timeline-wise. The villain's story ended in Rebels, but with rumours swirling about live-action flashbacks to that show in Ahsoka, there's always a chance we'll see Friend there.
What did you think about Obi-Wan Kenobi's take on The Grand Inquisitor?