Ewan McGregor Would Return for More ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’; Lucasfilm Discussing Options
In just a few days, Obi-Wan Kenobi will debut on Disney Plus, and fans will finally see Ewan McGregor reprise his role as the fan-favorite Jedi Master. However, some fans have wondered if the forthcoming batch of episodes will be the last time McGregor plays the character, or if a second season of the show could be in the cards.
Entertainment Weekly recently spoke to McGregor, series director Deborah Chow, head writer Joby Harold, and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy about the possibility of more seasons. When asked, Harold emphasized that the series was envisioned as a standalone story:
Yeah, I don’t know about it being a story beyond the story we’re telling now. With these things, we always think of it as a complete story with the beginning and a middle and an end. That’s the tradition of those great mythic Joseph Campbell stories that this was born from and that George [Lucas] built. And so we very much thought of it in that way, as its own story, its own narrative, its own journey for this character between Episode III and Episode IV.
Deborah Chow’s response was just as final:
It was definitely conceived as a limited series and it is one big story with a beginning, middle, and end. So that’s the way we’ve always approached it. The approach has always been that it is one full story.
At first glance, it would seem that Obi-Wan Kenobi was always intended to be a miniseries from the get-go. Even the most recent trailer advertised the show as a 6-part event. However, Kathleen Kennedy seemed open to the idea of doing more with McGregor’s version of the character… should the right story present itself:
It’s certainly something we talk about. Mainly because everybody came together and had such an incredible time. Ewan had an incredible time. Hayden had an incredible time. So certainly from that point of view, everybody involved would love to see this not end. But we have to really spend our time asking the question: Why would we do it? If we were to decide to do anything more with the Obi-Wan character, we’d have to really answer the question why?
Ewan McGregor expressed how he grateful he was that the series finally let him show in greater detail how his version of Obi-Wan became the character from the original trilogy. Additionally, he had such a positive experience filming the show that he wants to do more:
It was made as a one-off limited series. And in a way, it does do what I wanted it to do in terms of bridging a story between III and IV and bringing me closer to Alec Guinness’ Obi-Wan in A New Hope. And so, for sure, that’s true. Would I like to make another one? Yeah, I would like to make another one.
I had such a great time working with Deb, and the actors that we had in this were so great to work with, and the crew are just… I can’t tell you. It was so wonderful to work on. I couldn’t wait to get to work every day, and on a long shoot like this, that’s something. Right to the end, I just loved the experience of it.
Any artist who works on a highly-anticipated Star Wars project knows that the result of their efforts will be seen by a massive audience. For some creators, that reality can prove intimidating. McGregor, however, is excited that fans all over the world will be watching the show later this week:
There’s something very nice about doing work that you know people are going to see. I’ve spent a lot of time in my career making films that very few people ever saw, and there’s something nice about going to work when you know this has already got its audience.
It sounds a bit pretentious, but it’s nice to make people happy. It’s nice to know that by all of our efforts in making this Obi-Wan Kenobi series, the fans are going to be stoked. I think they’re not going to be disappointed by it. Maybe some will, but you can’t please all the people all the time. But knowing that people are going to be happy because of our work is a nice feeling.
While Kennedy and McGregor’s comments keep the potential of another season of Obi-Wan Kenobi alive, it’s important to remember that their statements are far from an official confirmation that more episodes will be made. Any potential second season renewal will depend on the show’s critical, fan, and general audience reception, as well as its viewership numbers.
If the show becomes a cultural sensation on par with The Mandalorian, then perhaps we’ll see even more of McGregor’s Obi-Wan Kenobi in the near future. However, at this point, we don’t know what will happen. As another famed Jedi Master would say, “Always in motion is the future.”
For decades, audiences’ general perception of Obi-Wan has been mostly influenced by his appearances in the original and prequel trilogies. EW asked McGregor how he felt the character’s solo series would change that perception, and the actor once again expressed confidence that Deborah Chow and the project’s writing team had crafted a worthy story for Obi-Wan:
I don’t know that we’re going to change our perspective of him, because we know who he was when I played him in the prequels and we know who he is in the original movie, A New Hope, with Alec Guinness creating him. So it fills that gap between those two entities. I always felt that there must be a good story to tell between Episode III and IV, and we spent a lot of time and energy finding that story.
And I think we did a great job. I have to say, I think Deborah Chow is a brilliant director and we’re lucky to have her direct all of the episodes. So it really is her vision. It’s one person’s vision from start to finish. We don’t have different directors coming in and out. And she worked tirelessly with the writers to find this brilliant story. And I think it’s just going to make us understand him more from where we left him in Episode III to where we find him with Alec Guinness in Episode IV.
As many fans will recall, Obi-Wan and Owen Lars aren’t on good terms by the time A New Hope begins. In one of the most widely-discussed moments from the newest trailer, viewers see that they already disagree about whether or not young Luke should be trained as a Jedi. When asked why the characters don’t see eye to eye in the series, McGregor explained:
I think Owen feels like Obi-Wan only cares about the boy because he may show signs of the Force. And he knows that Obi-Wan is pretty single-minded about that, and if it seems that Luke Skywalker shows that he has the Force, that Obi-Wan would want to train him to be a Jedi. And especially at this time when the Jedi are all but wiped out.
Playing him, I was split about this because I feel there’s part of Obi-Wan who’s given up, you know? That he feels like the time of the Jedi is over, that they lost. And whether he really feels that, he sort of says it. He feels that it’s done. They lost the battle.
And I think Owen wants Luke Skywalker to have a normal childhood, to grow up in an ordinary way and not to be bothered by that. And also, there’s the risk that, knowing that the Jedi are being hunted down, if Obi-Wan is found out and discovered, then [Owen] doesn’t want him anywhere near Luke Skywalker because they would also take Luke.
While we don’t know for certain if Obi-Wan Kenobi will be a limited or ongoing series, fans will at least have six episodes to enjoy soon. It certainly bodes well for the series’ quality that McGregor enjoyed himself so much that he wants to make another season if the opportunity arises.
For the full interview with McGregor, Kennedy, and the show’s creative team, you can take a look at Entertainment Weekly‘s full article.
Eric has been a fan of Star Wars ever since the age of five (or so) when his parents sat him down in front of a TV with pizza and a Sprite and showed him the original trilogy. He keeps trying to convince more fans to read the amazing 1980s Star Wars newspaper comics by Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson. When he's not reading, watching or playing Star Wars media, he's often enjoying other great fantasy and science fiction sagas or playing roleplaying games with his friends.
