‘Stranger Things’ or ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’: Which One Will You Pick Friday?

The following Star Wars TV present pits Obi-Wan Kenobi towards his darkest enemy Darth Vader. However that is not the solely conflict of titans coming to your display screen Friday. Rival streaming providers Disney Plus and Netflix go face to face because the Obi-Wan Kenobi present and Stranger Issues season 4 premiere on the exact same day: Could 27.

Disney Plus hadn’t even launched when Stranger Issues launched 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 decide up his lightsaber for the primary time in 17 years. Selections, choices!

We requested CNET’s staffers which of those two sci-fi epics they’re most psyched to see. Which is able to you select?

Hey there

A lot as I like spending time within the neon glow of Stranger Issues, I am extraordinarily desperate to comply with outdated Obi-Wan Kenobi on some damned-fool idealistic campaign.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 most interesting episodes.

I might fortunately watch Obi-Wan simply wander round Tatooine for six episodes, however it positive appears 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 will likely be high-quality. There isn’t any stress, 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 stress 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 will guess and speculate, however we do not know. I need to be not less than slightly stunned about what occurs. That is what’s pulling me to Stranger Issues. 

— Zach McAuliffe

A troublesome alternative

That is a troublesome alternative. Each enchantment to my Gen-X DNA. Fashionable Star Wars merchandise really feel so overwarmed and designed-by-committee that I am unable to think about something shocking. From the trailers, Obi-Wan (the present) appears like The Ebook of Boba Fett, which seemed like The Mandalorian, and so forth. Apparently area is… principally 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 finished sufficient, we have informed our story, let’s exit on prime.”

I did go to the in-person Stranger Issues Expertise in NYC a number of weeks in the past, nevertheless, so possibly I am all discuss. 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 look at each of those exhibits 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 children, one among which is now deeply pleased to take a seat and luxuriate in something spooky. And the latest teases that this subsequent season goes to lean darker actually has me curious. However as I write this, I am 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 look at first to keep away from any spoilers on the con. 

— Russell Holly

Assist me, Obi-Wan

That is in all probability sacrilege, however Stranger Issues has by no means actually finished something for me. Proper from the beginning, I did not have a lot emotional connection to these Nineteen Eighties retro touchstones like The Goonies or Dungeons & Dragons. Possibly I am lacking out, however I have not watched it because the first season.

However Ewan McGregor with a lightsaber? That’s extraordinarily my jam. Star Wars TV exhibits have been a mixture after the wonderful Mandalorian and the plodding Ebook of Boba Fett, however Obi-Wan is a personality who simply exudes that big-screen 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 loads of enjoyable.

— Richard Trenholm

It is pulling us in!

Given the historical past, I’m 100% positive that Stranger Issues will likely be a greater season of tv. Apart from a number of dud episodes, the Duffer brothers have barely put a foot improper with what has in the end develop into some of the influential TV exhibits within the quick historical past of streaming tv. I’ve liked Stranger Issues with each fiber of my being.

However sadly, Star Wars is Star Wars. Like a decaying draugr, ambling awkwardly within the path of brains, destiny has decreed I need to flay myself as soon as extra on the altar of George Lucas. Like most long-term Star Wars obsessives, I am responsibility certain to look at this present the second it drops. Additionally like most Star Wars followers, I am responsibility certain to complain about it on-line.

I absolutely anticipate that Obi-Wan will likely be disappointing and underwhelming, however I will likely be there from day one, desperately hoping to be “whelmed.”

— Mark Serrels

False nostalgia is best than the actual factor

I am too traumatized by the sight of Disney cannibalizing an precise cultural artifact that I as soon as liked, so the nostalgia-lite different of Stranger Issues looks as if simply the best repair. Give it some thought. You get the most effective of each worlds: the sensation of familiarity in a precision-tailored ’80s interval piece, with out really seeing one thing you really liked from that point was 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 exhibits seem like they’re going to be a good time. That stated, I am so pumped about Obi-Wan, it sort of scares me. Star Wars stuff has been hit-or-miss recently, and this present is playing on one of many best possible and most iconic characters within the franchise. And but I am unable to assist however be excited. Ewan McGregor was the one full of life, entertaining a part of the prequels — think about what he can do with a greater script and path. 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 best way 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 particular person (sadly did not watch the Star Wars motion pictures rising up), however I plan to look at 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 most effective sports activities documentary you in all probability have not seen final yr, known as Making Their Mark. It adopted Aussie-rules footy golf equipment through the pandemic yr 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 honest dinkum Aussie swearing at all the pieces. 

So I am hyped for this followup, which covers the ladies’s competitors and one among 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