George Lucas Was a Fan of ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ and Consulted On It, Says Pablo Hidalgo
Pablo Hidalgo was a guest on this year’s edition of Podathon, a fundraiser for Make-A-Wish hosted on May the Fourth, and dropped some interesting nuggets regarding the Star Wars franchise and some of the recent projects. Perhaps the most interesting quote to emerge from it, and which has been making the rounds over the past few days, is when he discussed Obi-Wan Kenobi and George Lucas’ reaction to it.
“Early on, there was a conversation had with George about what his thoughts were and whether or not he bought the whole concept of taking Obi-Wan and Vader again. And he was a hundred percent supportive. And I’ve heard tell that it’s been one of his favorite things to come out of Star Wars, because he recognizes so much of what he did in the prequels basically brought forward and celebrated in a way that I’m sure surprised him.”
Besides his own thoughts about the series, perhaps the most interesting part about the quote is the fact that he was very receptive to the idea that Obi-Wan and Vader had fought once between the events of Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope.
Behind the scenes, Lucas hasn’t exactly shied away from sharing his thoughts on the latest Star Wars project. While we haven’t heard him directly on record say anything about them, Bob Iger did share the Maker’s feelings of disappointment after watching The Force Awakens in his book:
“Just prior to the global release, Kathy screened The Force Awakens for George. He didn’t hide his disappointment. ‘There’s nothing new,’ he said. In each of the films in the original trilogy, it was important to him to present new worlds, new stories, new characters, and new technologies. In this one, he said, ‘There weren’t enough visual or technical leaps forward.'”
J. J. Abrams also said how much he wished Lucas had liked his movie, but appreciated the time anyway. On the opposite side, Lucas apparently thought The Last Jedi was “beautifully made” and he told as much to writer/director Rian Johnson. There is currently no record of his opinion on The Rise of Skywalker, and he didn’t even attend the premiere of that movie. He was there for the previous two saga films, though.
As far as the spin-offs go, Lucas apparently loved Rogue One and let Tony Gilroy know during a 45-minute conversation after the Maker saw the movie, the Andor showrunner revealed recently. Solo was directed by an old friend of his, Ron Howard, who said he was very supportive of the film:
“He did come by and visit the set, which is a pretty rare thing, but he did it as a show of support which was really cool. And he was really complimentary. But he was also really confident when I came in that I would get the feel of it and understand how to maximize the entertainment value of these characters and this world.”
Lucas has also seen The Mandalorian and Ahsoka, as we know from several quotes from Dave Filoni. While last year he didn’t directly address his thoughts on the Rosario Dawson-led series, but he did mention Lucas’ reaction to The Mandalorian back in 2020:
“He’s been very complimentary. I think he’s enjoyed the show, and he said once [that] now he gets to watch it as a fan and watch it as a viewer.”
While there isn’t a direct quote about Andor, given Gilroy’s involvement and the fact that he liked Rogue One, we could assume he was at least receptive to it. Prior to the Disney sale, Lucas was also developing a grittier show about the underground levels of Coruscant that tone-wise would probably been similar to the Rebellion-focused Disney Plus show. The second and final season will debut next year on Disney Plus.
Lucas will receive an Honorary Palme d’Or on May 25 at the Cannes Film Festival.
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as movies from Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.
