Over the summer it was finally confirmed that Ewan McGregor will return asObi-Wan Kenobiin a new show for the Disney+ streaming service. The actor’s return to the role had been rumored for years, and fans were quite vocal about their desire to see it happen. Though, the plan wasn’t always to turn the tale into a series. As has been confirmed by McGregor, the idea was to give us an Obi-Wan movie, but things changed.
Ewan McGregor, who played the famed Jedi in George Lucas' prequel trilogy, has been making the rounds to promote his new movieDoctor Sleep. During a recent interview, he was asked about the recently announced project and whether or not it did indeed start life as a standaloneStar Warsmovie. Here’s what McGregor had to say about it.
“It wasn’t always going to be a series, not initially. When we first started talking about, that wasn’t really in the cards but everything’s changed so much, so quickly. It’s really exciting that it is now. I’m really into the idea to be able totell the story over several hoursinstead of just one hit. I think it’s going to be quite cool.”
Back in August of 2017, The Hollywood Reporter ran a story confirming that the Obi-Wan movie, long-rumored and long-desired, was in the works at Lucasfilm, with Stephan Daldy on board to direct. But this was beforeThe Last Jediwas released that December and before the mixed reaction. This was also, more importantly, before the release of Solo in May 2018. That movie proved thatStar Warsisn’t bulletproof, as it represented the studio taking a loss on the project and, ultimately, rethinking the strategy with the franchise moving forward.
However, in the following months, we began to hear more and more about Disney’s streaming service, eventually learning thatThe Mandalorianwould be produced for it, becoming the first ever live-actionStar Warsseries. A bit later, aRogue Oneprequel centered on Diego Luna’s Cassian Andor was announced as well.Disney+ gives Lucasfilm an entirely new outletfor the franchise and the opportunity to explore a galaxy far, far away on the small screen for the first time. This paved the way for Obi-Wan to be rescued from the trash compactor, getting turned into a series instead.
We know the show will take place roughly eight years after the events ofRevenge of the Sithand will consist of six episodes in total. Deborah Chow (The Mandalorian,Better Call Saul) has been tapped by Lucasfilm to direct the series. Plot details remain scarce, but Joel Edgerton has hinted that he may return asLuke’s uncle Owenas well, as he previously played the role in the prequel trilogy. We’ll be sure to keep you posted as any further details on the project are made available. This news comes to us viaComingsoon.net.
