All hail Obi-Wan’s fabulous hair! As Obi-Wan Kenobi comes closer to its release, we’re exploring the evolution of the famed Jedi Master in the lead up to the launch of the series. This post will revolve around the Negotiator’s hair and how it evolves throughout his prequel appearances. We’ll cover them all, from the short Padawan cut in The Phantom Menace to his semi-mullet in the upcoming series!
Before we begin, we need to clarify that we will NOT be covering The Clone Wars series in this post. Instead, we’re only examining the character’s prequel era live-action appearances.
I: The Padawan Hair Cut
The first hair look we want to cover is Obi-Wan’s Padawan cut from The Phantom Menace. This was a typical style of most human Padawan learners of the era. Anakin, Kenobi’s padawan, would later sport a similar look.
It has often been joked by fans that there’s a pattern going on with Count Dooku’s line of Jedi. Qui-Gon has a mullet as a Jedi Knight, and Obi-Wan follows suit. Anakin starts with the same hair as Obi-Wan does in The Phantom Menace before following the same pattern in his live-action appearances.
II: The Knight Hair Cut
Obi-Wan’s next hair look is the same mullet Qui-Gon sports from The Phantom Menace. However, his style is much shorter than his late master’s was. It could be said that the stress of having a rebellious Padawan would be enough to make him grow his hair out.
Kenobi’s hair in Attack of the Clones has become famous in its own right with its own memes.
III: The Master Cut
By the time the Clone Wars started to close, Obi-Wan had cut his hair to show his status as a Jedi Master. Anakin had graduated to Jedi Knight status. It also served as a transition between Ewan McGregor and Alec Guinness.
IV: The Semi-Hermit Cut
Finally, we reach the final style, which we will see in Obi-Wan Kenobi. It’s a slicked-back semi-mullet as it begins to gather length from Obi-Wan’s ten years in exile on Tatooine. Like with the Master cut seen above, it is a way of transitioning Ewan’s portrayal of the character into Alec Guinness’ version of the character.
