Despite his turn in a galaxy far, far away not exactly being at the top of anyone’s list of favourite Star Wars films, it seems Ewan McGregor might be about to whip his lightsaber out once again.
The 48-year-old Scottish actor is reportedly in talks with Disney+ to reprise his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi in their upcoming, as-yet-untitled Star Wars project, which will be released on their streaming service.
McGregor played the younger version of Obi-Wan in the three prequels, 1999’s The Phantom Menace, 2002’s Attack of the Clones, and 2005’s Revenge of the Sith. He also lent his voice to the character in 2015’s The Force Awakens. The older version of the character was played by Alec Guinness in the original trilogy.
There had been rumours of a stand-alone Obi-Wan film from Disney, as well as a Boba Fett one. However, just as Boba Fett’s film gave way to a series called The Mandalorian, it seems the temptation to spin Kenobi out for a whole series was too great.
It could be a reaction to the fairly disappointing reaction to last year’s standalone Han Solo film, as Deadline suggests, though with the ever-growing importance of the small screen, a show with the potential to evolve and continue for multiple seasons is understandably attractive.
Disney is expected to announce a whole host of new shows they’ll be adding to their streaming service at this month’s D23 Expo in Anaheim, California.
As well as the possibility of McGregor reprising his role as Obi-Wan, Disney+ will be bringing a number of Marvel shows to the small screen.
Last seen in Avengers: Endgame, both Tom Hiddleston’s Loki and Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch are getting a TV miniseries, as well as a remake of The Lady and the Tramp and High School Musical.
The new Star Wars series is to be executive produced by Iron Man director Jon Favreau, and is said to be set three years after the death of Darth Vader.
Alec Guiness played the Jedi knight Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original Star Wars trilogy, first appearing in 1977’s Star Wars: A New Hope. McGregor took on the legendary role from the legendary actor to much anticipation from fans.
However, despite the often awkward dialogue and meandering storylines of the prequels, McGregor delivered and played the role well – no mean feat in a series of films that have literally spawned a religion, with each new film attracting enormous levels of scrutiny from fans.
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Charlie Cocksedge is a journalist and sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated from the University of Manchester with an MA in Creative Writing, where he learnt how to write in the third person, before getting his NCTJ. His work has also appeared in such places as The Guardian, PN Review and the bin.