Is Ice Cube in Obi-Wan Kenobi? No, but His Son Is & Here’s Who He’s Playing!
Obi-Wan Kenobi is slowly becoming a vital addition to the lore of George Lucas’ Star Wars franchise. Now, while most of the story simply fills in the holes between Episodes III and IV, the story has also introduced us to some new characters and new concepts. Among the former, you might have noticed a familiar-looking face among the Path members. If you thought it was Ice Cube, you were not the only ones, but it’s actually not him – it’s his son, O’Shea Jackson Jr. In this article, we’re going to tell you about him and his role in Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Kawlan Roken, the character played by Ice Cube’s son, O’Shea Jackson Jr., was a human male who ran the secret underground network known as The Path, that helped smuggled surviving Jedi and Force-sensitives to safety during the Great Jedi Purge and hide them from the Imperial Inquisitors. As was revealed, he was once married to a Force-sensitive woman who perished at the hands of the Empire.
The rest of this article is going to focus on both O’Shea Jackson Jr., as we are going to tell you about his career, and his role in Obi-Wan Kenobi. You’re going to find out all the details about his role, as well as the character’s fate in the Obi-Wan Kenobi miniseries. Be careful, though, as we are going to reveal a lot of spoilers in the upcoming paragraphs.
Who is Roken in Obi-Wan Kenobi?
Kawlan Roken was the human leader of the Path, an escape network for Jedi survivors after Order 66. In 9 BSY he met Obi-Wan Kenobi, who was brought to Jabiim by the Path, and shortly thereafter assisted during an attack on the Inquisitorius fortress on Nur. During the rule of the Galactic Empire, Roken was married to a former Jedi who was killed by Inquisitors.
He was later a member of the Path escape network alongside Wade Resselian, Sully Stark, Tala Durith, and others, and led the network on Jabiim when Durith 9 VSY arrived at the Safehouse with Obi-Wan Kenobi wounded after a duel with Darth Vader. Roken thought it dangerous to keep Kenobi, believed to be the Inquisitorial’s number one target, at the Path’s base on Jabiim, but was persuaded to help him nonetheless.
Kenobi, previously separated from ten-year-old Leia Organa, recaptured after being kidnapped by Vect Nokru, wanted to retaliate against Organa’s kidnapper, Inquisitor Reva, and planned to infiltrate Nur’s Inquisitorius fortress and rescue Organa , who knew too much from Durith’s explanations of the path to hand over to the Imperials for interrogation.
Roken attended the infiltration briefing and after the successful mission helped take Durith, Organa and Kenobi and their helpers Resselian and Stark away from Nur aboard a starship. In doing so, Roken noticed the absence of Resselian, who was killed during the extraction of Reva. He later joined the other members on Jabiim, where they planned their escape.
During the planning stage, Darth Vader reached the planet to take Obi-Wan. Roken was working with Leia on fixing the doors so that the Path members could explain the Imperial forces.
Who is O’Shea Jackson Jr., Ice Cube’s son?
O’Shea Jackson Jr., also known as OMG, is an American actor and rapper. He is the eldest son of rapper Ice Cube, in 2015 he played his father in Straight Outta Compton, which was his debut in feature films. Jackson was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of O’Shea Jackson Sr., better known as Ice Cube, and Kimberly Woodruff.
Jackson grew up in the San Fernando Valley and is the second child of four. He has two brothers, the older Darrell and the younger Shareef, and a younger sister, Kareema. Jackson attended William Howard Taft High School in Woodland Hills, California, where he graduated in 2009. His father also attended Taft High School.
Jackson graduated from the University of Southern California, where he studied screenwriting. In June 2014, it was announced that Jackson had been cast as his father, Ice Cube, in Straight Outta Compton, a biopic about N.W.A. The film was released on August 14, 2015, to mostly positive reviews. Jackson stands out for his physical resemblance to his father, which Ice Cube himself described as “perfect”.
In 2018, Jackson starred in the movie Den of Thieves, which also featured 50 Cent and Gerard Butler. In 2010, Jackson and her brother Darrell were featured on the songs “She Couldn’t Make It On Her Own” and “Y’all Know How I Am”, from his father’s album I Am the West. In March 2012, Jackson, under the name OMG, released his first mixtape, Jackin’ for Beats.
In 2015, Jackson appeared in Pia Mia’s music video for her song “Touch.” He also appeared in American hip hop duo Twenty88’s music video for “Out of Love”, promoting their self-titled debut extended play. Jackson has a daughter, Jordan Reign Jackson, born in August 2017 with his ex-girlfriend, Jackie Garcia. Jordan is Ice Cube’s first grandson.
His filmography includes:
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2015 | Straight Outta Compton | Ice Cube | |
| 2017 | Ingrid Goes West | Daniel “Dan” Pinto | |
| 2018 | Den of Thieves | Donnie Wilson | |
| 2018 | Drunk History | DJ Kool Herc | Episode: “Game Changers” |
| 2019 | Long Shot | Lance | |
| 2019 | Godzilla: King of the Monsters | Chief Warrant Officer Jackson Barnes | |
| 2019 | Just Mercy | Anthony Ray Hinton | |
| 2021 | The Premise | Cooper | Episode: “The Ballad of Jesse Wheeler” |
| 2021 | The Now | Coop | |
| 2021–present | Swagger | Ike | Lead role |
| 2022 | Obi-Wan Kenobi | Kawlan Roken | Disney+ limited series 3 episodes |
| 2023 | Cocaine Bear | Post-production |
