Ewan McGregor Says Star Wars Prequels Backlash Was Difficult For Him

Ewan McGregor’s set to finally make his grand return as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the legendary character’s own Disney Plus TV series, which will mark the first time he’s played the part since the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy concluded way back in 2005. Though McGregor’s Kenobi is widely beloved by fans, those movies themselves were the butt of the joke for many years and now the Scottish star has opened up about how difficult it was to deal with that.

McGregor spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about his upcoming TV series Halston, but obviously Star Wars came up a lot – including how he found the mean-spiritedness surrounding the prequels tough to process at the time. “[It] was hard they didn’t get well received,” he said on the topic. “That was quite difficult. They were universally not very much liked.”

This is far from the first time that we’ve heard one of the prequels’ stars open up about dealing with the trilogy’s backlash. Natalie Portman has revealed that the negative reception to the films upset her and, tragically, Ahmed Best has admitted that the criticism of his portrayal of Jar Jar Binks led to severe depression. Thankfully, these days fans have a much more rounded view of the movies, acknowledging their faults but also praising their positives.

And the reappraisal of the prequels will surely take Obi-Wan Kenobi into account, which will bring back a bunch of familiar faces alongside McGregor. Hayden Christensen is involved (somehow) as Anakin Skywalker, with Joel Edgerton and Bonnie Piesse likewise confirmed to be reprising Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru. Liam Neeson also seems like a shoe-in as Qui-Gon Jinn. Not to mention the possibility that Darth Maul may show up.

Obi-Wan Kenobi is gearing up to shoot in LA ahead of its debut on Disney Plus sometime in 2022.