For more than a decade since the release of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, star Ewan McGregor has shared his affinity for playing Obi-Wan Kenobi, having regularly volunteered his services to play the character in a new film in any capacity. Unfortunately, if such a project is currently being developed, McGregor is apparently unaware of its progress. In a recent interview with The View, McGregor claimed that Lucasfilm has no plans for an Obi-Wan Kenobi spin-off film:
“I would totally do it, of course. There’s no plans as such to do it, as far as I know.”
The prequel Star Wars films might not have been considered fulfilling adventures for devout fans, though McGregor has been almost unanimously praised for his performance as Kenobi, delighting fans both knew and old with the portrayal.
Following the events of Revenge of the Sith, Kenobi went into hiding on Tatooine to both hide from the Galactic Empire and keep an eye out on Luke Skywalker, with what happened in those decades a relative mystery for viewers. The actor pointed out how many exciting adventures could appear in that time period.
“There must be a good story to tell as they’re doing spin-offs – there’s likely to be a good Obi-Wan between me and Alec Guinness,” McGregor noted.
Once the prequel trilogy was completed, fans didn’t expect to see a solo film focusing on the character, as Lucasfilm hadn’t established the concept of a Star Wars film that didn’t focus on the Skywalkers. That all changed when Disney purchased the studio in 2012, which has seen multiple spin-off films released that explore other corners of the galaxy far, far away.
Given the praise McGregor has received for the role and fan interest in seeing him return to the saga, the actor feels like he’s being redundant by offering his services.
The actor joked, “I’ve answered ‘yes’ so many times it looks like I’m touting for work!”
Prior to the release of Solo: A Star Wars Story, conflicting reports emerged about the status of upcoming spin-off films. One report claimed that Logan writer/director James Mangold was developing a film based on Boba Fett, with that same report noting that Lucasfilm was also developing an Obi-Wan film. In the weeks following that report, other rumors emerged that the studio was putting all spin-off film development on hiatus, only for Lucasfilm themselves to seemingly refute those rumors without confirming additional details.
Whatever the case me bay, IF Lucasfilm is planning a solo film centred on the legendary Jedi, it would make sense for McGregor to play coy on the matter. After all, without an official announcement, McGregor would have been sworn to secrecy from Disney and Lucasfilm. Or… the film could not be happening at all. Either way, let’s hope we see McGregor in the role one more time…
Stay tuned for details on the future of the Star Wars franchise.
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