Star Wars fans had been hoping that Ewan McGregor would make a return as Obi-Wan for years, as his take on the part was one of the few unambiguously good things about the Prequel Trilogy. Plus, given the quality of his acting in other projects, with the right script he could make something truly special.
For a while, it seemed that he may get his own Solo style spinoff, but we now know that he’ll be returning for a full Disney+ series comprising six episodes, each an hour-long. And he’s relieved that he can finally talk about it. In an interview with Men’s Journal, McGregor was asked how he felt now that the project is public and said:
“It’s a fu*king massive relief. Because for four years, I’ve been having to lie to people about it.”
But despite the existence of the show now not in question, the particulars remain mysterious. That being said, the actor did reveal the following:
“The storyline sits between Episode III and Episode IV. The Jedi Order was falling apart. It will be interesting to take a character we know in a way and show him—Well, his arc will be quite interesting, I think, dealing with that the fact that all the Jedi were slaughtered with the end of Episode III. It’s quite something to get over.”
He also talked about how eager he was to portray an Obi-Wan that’s closer to the A New Hope character played by Alec Guinness, saying:
“I want to get closer and closer to how Obi-Wan felt while Alec Guinness was playing him. I feel like I’m grayer and nearer him in age, so it’ll be easier to do that.”
This all sounds very cool. While there’ve been stories that follow Obi-Wan as he hides out as Ben Kenobi (which now that I think about it, isn’t the best secret identity), it’ll be interesting to see him adapting to life in the Tatooine sands while trying his best to keep his former identity under wraps. We should also get to see a young Luke Skywalker in the show, along with Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen (Joel Edgerton may reprise the role). Whatever the case, it’ll be great to see McGregor flex his acting muscles on a Star Wars script worthy of his talents.
