It’s fair to say that the Star Wars prequels had a lot of problems, but Ewan McGregor’s younger Obi-Wan Kenobi was much-needed bright spark. Succeeding the legendary Sir Alec Guinness in portraying the Jedi, McGregor really grew into the role, improving as the movies went along, building up to a powerful performance in Revenge of the Sith.
The actor recently spoke to Collider (below) and the topic of a possible Obi-Wan standalone movie inevitably arose, with the actor reaffirming his interest in doing one, explaining that he believes there’s definitely an in-depth story for the character ready to be told: “I’d very much like to do one too. I think the story between Episode III and Episode IV, I think there’s a story there. I think that’s the Obi-Wan Kenobi movie, if there is one. The one that bridges my Obi-Wan Kenobi and Alec’s Obi-Wan Kenobi because there’s a—I don’t know how long he’s in the desert there, but it’s got to be twenty or thirty years.”
He was pressed on whether the topic has actually been discussed with Lucasfilm, McGregor’s response hinted that it’s perhaps in the ether: “I’m not sure I’m at liberty to say, really, but I’m very interested in doing that. That would be great. Maybe there’s even a trilogy!”
Keeping the topic on Star Wars, McGregor also shared his thoughts on The Force Awakens, which saw him briefly reprise his Obi-Wan performance when he can be heard whispering to Rey during her Force vision: “I liked it. Funnily enough, we had a test preview of the film I directed,American Pastoral, in Pasadena with 300 people, and they fill in cards after test screenings to tell you what they thought about your film. And of course when you do that, you have to check the print before you get 300 people in. So that happened in the morning; we’re all sitting in Pasadena and we’d all finished watching American Pastoral, and we’re all happy—it looks good, it sounds good, we’re good, we’re ready. And then I had like four hours before the audience arrived.
“So instead of just wandering around Pasadena, I was in a cinema multiplex, and they were playing Star Wars, and I hadn’t seen it yet. So I said, “Okay guys, I’ll see you in a couple of hours!” So I went from my film—I got some popcorn—and watched Star Wars, and I loved it. I really loved it. I thought it was great. I thought he did an amazing job. I was very excited to hear my voice come in. “That was me!””
But how about a cameo as a Force Ghost in the upcoming Episodes VIII & IX?: “I don’t know anything about it. I’m really not in the picture with the Star Wars trilogy. As far as I know, I would be Alec Guinness by now, so I don’t know how that would work. I really don’t know and I haven’t had any discussions with anyone about it. To play Obi-Wan Kenobi again would be something I would love to do in one of the spinoff movies. If that were to happen in one of their trilogies, I would be up for that, but I don’t know how that would happen. I’m sure some of the Star Wars fans would come up with an idea of how that could happen.”
Lucasfilm have already announced their Han Solo spin-off movie and an origin story for bounty hunter Boba Fett is constantly speculated. However, we think Obi-Wan’s story certainly has the depth, resonance and drama to warrant an entire trilogy to himself. With spin-off movies in full swing and McGregor clearly on board, what are Lucasfilm waiting for!? An Obi-Wan standalone needs to happen!
Source: Squareeyed
Irwin Fletcher
I'm an LA journalist who really lives for his profession. I have also published work as Jane Doe in various mags and newspapers across the globe. I normally write articles that can cause trouble but now I write for FTN because Nerds are never angry, so I feel safe.
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