‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’: Why Darth Vader Was Supposed to Kill Moses Ingram’s Character in Original Script

Samantha Bergeson
·4 min read
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[Editor’s Note: The following story contains spoilers for “Obi-Wan Kenobi.”]

Reva the Inquisitor was supposed to have an ending with real finality.

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The original script for the “Obi-Wan Kenobi” film, before it became a Disney+ series, included Reva’s death. Writer Stuart Beattie told The Direct that Reva, played by Moses Ingram, was going to fall by Darth Vader’s lightsaber at the hands of actor Hayden Christensen, in order to save Obi-Wan (Ewan McGregor).

“I wanted her story to end. I wanted Reva to play her part in the Kenobi-Vader story, which was, essentially, at the end, she was the one that allowed Vader, basically told Vader to stop hunting Kenobi,” Beattie said. “You know, she ended the obsession Vader had with Kenobi. She claimed it was over, it’s done. So that was, that was her role to play. And she’d done so many terrible things, I felt she had to die. You can only redeem so much.”

Beattie, who “created Reva all the way through” and was ready for a “full trilogy” of films centered around Obi-Wan, explained that Reva hated Jedi because she didn’t know that Darth Vader was Anakin Skywalker, who left her for dead after turning to the Dark Side.

“All she saw was Anakin as Anakin because he hadn’t changed in the suit yet, right? So Anakin killed her friends, put the scar on her, almost killed her, left her for dead, basically,” Beattie said. “So, in her mind, the Jedi Council were the biggest villains in the galaxy. She believed the lies that they were plotting a coup to overtake and get power and all that, but they were stopped by the Clones. So she believed that’s why she’s hunting Jedi, because she believed the Jedi are the worst, basically.”

Beattie continued, “The only little difference in mine was she didn’t know Darth Vader was Anakin. So all that kind of stuff just kind of made sense and allowed me to create a very confused, conflicted, blinded character filled with hate and rage and all the stuff that makes people want to be Sith and Sith Acolytes. And take her to a place of understanding. Understanding truth, understanding who Obi-Wan is, who Vader really is, and what her path is in the galaxy.”

The original story was also going to include Obi-Wan telling Reva the truth about Vader’s origins and changing the course of fate.

“That revelation makes her kind of go, ‘Oh my god, I’ve been wrong this whole time,'” he said. “And so she goes and basically saved Kenobi by sacrificing herself, telling Vader, ‘I killed Kenobi.’ And then Vader killed her, [with her] knowing that Vader would kill her. So, that kind of completed her arc. So just a little bit different that she was, yeah, absolutely, the Inquisitor hunting Kenobi all the way through and driven by her own personal demons.”

Despite Reva’s looming death in the original script, Beattie explained that her role was vital to the Obi-Wan vs. Vader showdown.

“We were always faced with the fact that Obi-Wan could never kill Darth Vader. So he needed to defeat someone. And so Reva was my attempt to give him someone to defeat or someone to save, because he’s not going to save Darth,” Beattie summed up. “The Darth Vader storyline is going to end in a downer, so I wanted to save someone, and that’s why I created Reva.”

Actress Ingram has spoken out about the racist backlash she’s received since debuting in the “Star Wars” galaxy with the Disney+ series. “There’s nothing anybody can do to stop this hate,” Ingram shared on Instagram. “And so I question my purposes even being here in front of you saying that this is happening.”

Lucasfilm, Disney, and co-star Ewan McGregor have defended Ingram against racist harassment.

“We love Moses, and if you’re sending her bullying messages, you’re no ‘Star Wars’ fan in my mind,” McGregor said. “There’s no place for racism in this world.”

The official “Star Wars” Twitter account later issued a statement: “We are proud to welcome Moses Ingram to the ‘Star Wars’ family and excited for Reva’s story to unfold. If anyone intends to make her feel in any way unwelcome, we have only one thing to say: we resist.”

The account added, “There are more than 20 million sentient species in the Star Wars galaxy, don’t choose to be a racist.”

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