Freddie Prinze Jr. Says He Is Done Playing Kanan Jarrus
Any Star Wars fans hoping to see Freddie Prinze Jr. making to a return to the franchise as Kanan Jarrus will be disappointed to learn that he no longer wishes to reprise the role.
In an interview on Kristian Harloff’s YouTube channel, the actor revealed that he only came back to do cameos for The Bad Batch and The Rise of Skywalker because he was asked to as a favor, not because he wanted to — he’s “done” playing the character going forward.
While Freddie doesn’t harbor any ill will towards the franchise, he’s happy with how Kanan’s storyline ended and feels that any future appearances would only serve to dilute the impact of the Jedi’s death. When Harloff asked him about his cameo in The Bad Batch premiere, he responded:
I was asked to, yeah. I didn’t necessarily want to. I feel like every time you hear Kanan’s voice since Rebels ended, it really kind of dilutes his impact.
Similarly, when Harloff asked about his line in The Rise of Skywalker, when he spoke to Rey through the Force, he confirmed:
Yeah, I didn’t want to do that either. I was asked as a favor and I feel like all my — all their favors are used up now.
Harloff logically moved on to confirm his involvement in Ahsoka, or lack thereof, to which Freddie confirmed what we’re all expecting at this point in the interview:
No Ahsoka, I’m done with Kanan. I’m too old for that stuff.
It’s undoubtedly disappointing news for any Kanan Jarrus fans out there, but it’s good that Freddie Prinze Jr. is so concerned with protecting the legacy of his character. Star Wars has a history of resurrecting or partially bringing back previously dead characters, and it is important that some of them stay dead so that their impact upon the franchise continues to be felt.
Kanan’s death was one of the most emotional scenes in Star Wars Rebels‘ final season, so it makes sense to preserve such a special moment. It doesn’t preclude the character from appearing in novels and comics set before his death though, so maybe this isn’t the last we’ve seen of Kanan Jarrus in Star Wars stories.
Josh is a huge Star Wars fan, who has spent far too much time wondering if any Star Wars character could defeat Thanos with all the Infinity Stones.
