RUMOR: Ewan McGregor in Talks for Obi Wan Kenobi Film
By Elaine Tveit
Schmoes Knows has reported a rumor from their sources at Disney and Lucasfilm, which say that Ewan McGregor is in talks to reprise his role as Jedi Master Obi Wan Kenobi for an “unknown project.”
This project could be either one of the upcoming Anthology films, or its own standalone, or even something bigger than that, as Schmoes Knows’ sources are also saying that Disney wants to develop a trilogy of Kenobi movies that would be outside of the Anthology series.
Kenobi spinoff rumors are nothing new. In the past, both Making Star Wars and Cinelinx have reported hearing about them; in fact, Cinelinx heard about a possible Obi Wan trilogy, as well, which may indicate that it’s not all dust in the wind. Also, the fact that at least three different sites are hearing about a Kenobi project of some kind gives me hope that it is really going to happen someday.
Image from deadline.com
If you haven’t already guessed by references I’ve made in some of my previous posts here on Dork Side, Obi Wan Kenobi is my favorite character. He’s smart, intellectual, humorous, a loyal friend, and a wise mentor to Luke Skywalker (not only that, but Ewan McGregor kind of makes my heart go pitter-patter). I would LOVE to see him get his own Anthology film. A trilogy would be even better, though I do question how Disney and Lucasfilm would be able to develop three movies starring the same character, at least if they only cover the years he spent on Tatooine between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. If he stays on Tatooine during that entire interim (which, as far as we know, he does), the story group is going to have to get really creative, and come up with plenty of conflicts and a variety of on-planet locations to prevent Obi Wan’s adventures from getting monotonous for lack of a fresh setting.
However, I don’t think it would be out of the realm of possibility for Obi Wan to leave Tatooine once or twice. In the Last of the Jedi juvenile fiction series, Obi Wan does depart from Tatooine briefly, leaving the task of watching over Luke to the Force ghost of his master, Qui Gon Jinn. A similar situation could be contrived for an Anthology film or a trilogy story.
I do think that Obi Wan’s years in exile are the likeliest era for the story group to explore, given that Ewan McGregor is probably too old to play a very young Kenobi. He looks perfect, however, to play a late 30s, mid-40s Kenobi.
I’m really excited about this. I would rather have a Kenobi spinoff over a Boba Fett one any day, personally. But if these rumors are in any way true, maybe we’ll get both!
Thanks to Screen Rant for bringing this to our attention through their report.