Beloved Star Wars Clone Almost Given the Perfect Sendoff

This information comes to us straight from the source…that is, from Stuart Beattie, the writer who penned the Obi-Wan Kenobi movie and later dished about the film that could have been. One detail he divulged was the scene that introduced Commander Cody stalking Obi-Wan through the streets of Tattooine and eventually holding a knife to the Jedi’s throat. We then discover that Cody is Kenobi’s friend and is making the not-so-subtle point that the Jedi must be more careful in a post-Order 66 world.

What makes us even sadder about never getting this Obi-Wan Kenobi film is that it would give Commander Cody a sympathetic arc that linked this new movie to Revenge of the Sith. The script explained that the clone lost the inhibitor chip that allowed Palpatine to weaponize all of the clones against the Jedi. This leaves Commander Cody wracked with guilt over his culpability in the Jedi genocide, and he has dedicated his life to protecting Obi-Wan Kenobi as a kind of penance.

With that being said, Beattie didn’t write Commander Cody as a sad character who spends all his time moping around. Instead, he wrote Cody and Obi-Wan as “these two kind of old warriors bickering like this old married couple” and reminiscing about the good old days “when we had an army at our backs.” 

The writer also described a hilarious scene where Cody and Obi-Wan have to dispose of some bodies (they were bounty hunters hunting Obi-Wan…real “scum and villainy” types) and decide to throw them in the Sarlacc Pit. On multiple occasions, other characters pull up to the pit on speeders and make our heroes think they are about to have another fight on their hands. This leads to the punchline: these shady characters have the same goal and dispose of dead bodies alongside the good guys.

Perhaps the biggest illustration of how important Commander Cody would have been in this film is that Obi-Wan Kenobi trusts the clone to watch over Luke Skywalker. This underscores how much Obi-Wan trusts the other man and provides some fun “back at the ranch” moments with Cody while Obi-Wan is out having adventures.

Of course, there’s also some pathos here because Cody is aging twice as fast as those around him, adding to his amusingly grumpy interactions with everyone from Luke to Uncle Owen.

If you haven’t caught on by now, we’re huge Commander Cody fans who are very sad that he never got the perfect send-off this Star Wars film was trying to give him. In this script, Cody isn’t just a skilled warrior…he’s also a friend, confidante, and bodyguard. He gave Obi-Wan someone to bounce off of, and we agree with Beattie that the Obi-Wan Kenobi TV show would have been better if the exiled Jedi had someone other than a young Leia to talk to.

Source: The Direct