Ewan McGregor Talks About the Obi-Wan Kenobi Disney Plus Series; Confirms It Will Be Six Episodes
Ewan McGregor is finally able to talk about his return as Obi-Wan Kenobi (as much as Star Wars talent can talk about anything) and it feels refreshingly good, so I can’t imagine how he must feel. In an interview with Men’s Journal, which took place literally minutes before the announcement was made on stage at D23, the Scottish actor confirmed some details we had reported on the series. Let’s take a look at what the Jedi Master had to say about his return to a galaxy far, far away.
First, as you might imagine, McGregor acknowledges how tasking it was to keep the secret, which sheds light on just how long this project has been in development (initially a movie, and now retooled into a limited series).
“It’s a f***ing massive relief. Because for four years, I’ve been having to lie to people about it.”
It was recently confirmed on The Star Wars Show that the Kenobi series will take place eight years after the events of Revenge of the Sith, so roughly 11 years before A New Hope. His interview with Men’s Journal took place before that confirmation, so McGregor doesn’t specify that in the interview, though now knowing when it will take place, helps us put it his answers into perspective.
“The storyline sits between Episode III and Episode IV,” he says, dropping us a breadcrumb. The last time we saw him in the role, “the Jedi Order was falling apart. It will be interesting to take a character we know in a way and show him—Well, his arc will be quite interesting, I think, dealing with that the fact that all the Jedi were slaughtered with the end of Episode III. It’s quite something to get over.”
McGregor will be 49 when he films the Kenobi series next summer, which is 13 years younger than Alec Guinness was when he filmed Star Wars in 1976. That is pretty close to the age difference needed, being that this series will take place 11 years before A New Hope, though all due respect to Sir Alec Guinness, McGregor looks a little more than 11 years younger than his Kenobi, so they may have to age him up a bit more physically.
Physical appearance aside, McGregor acknowledges how people mature, and wanting to bring his Kenobi from the prequels closer to Guinness’ as the two iterations’ timelines inch closer to one another.
“I want to get closer and closer to how Obi-Wan felt while Alec Guinness was playing him. I feel like I’m grayer and nearer him in age, so it’ll be easier to do that.”
McGregor also confirmed that the series will indeed be six episodes (one hour each), verifying that detail from when we broke the news that a Kenobi series was being made for Disney Plus this past February.
McGregor will likely show up in more interviews in the coming weeks promoting his new movie Doctor Sleep, so expect a few more small quotes here and there, though like with any Star Wars project, McGregor’s lips will mostly be sealed on juicy details. We will keep you up to date as more information about the series surfaces.
SOURCE: Men’s Journal
John Hoey is the Lead Editor and Senior Writer for Star Wars News Net and the host of The Resistance Broadcast podcast
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