Star Wars without Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan? Unimaginable today. But about 25 years ago, the actor wasn’t sure about his role. Image source: Disney/Lucasfilm
Many Star Wars fans today may no longer be able to imagine but the prequels had a pretty bad reputation about 20 years ago. In the meantime, the perception of episodes 1, 2 and 3 has changed noticeably, but in 1999 things looked completely different when The Phantom Menace was released in cinemas.
A difficult Star Wars
Ewan McGregor now looks back on this time in a new interview during the Goteborg Film Festival – how Variety reported. The actor of Obi-Wan Kenobi reveals in an interview, that the sometimes devastating response to Episode 1 really bothered him. That’s why he was anything but sure about his Star Wars future:
[Star Wars] Despite everything, it wasn’t set in stone for me. I didn’t think that defined me. At the time I thought I was an actor in Danny Boyle films. The Beach was more important in my eyes and I meant it, I didn’t just say it like that.
I’ve been looking for advice from a lot of people and I’m glad I’ve been looking for a lot of people [Obi-Wan Kenobi] am. But when these films came out, they got so much hate. That was hard. The first one was stomped into the ground and then I had to turn two more!
It was really strange for me to be in a film that was so torn apart.
Ewan McGregor is passionate about Star Wars today
Today (obviously) the complete opposite is the case: Ewan McGregor returned for his personal TV series for Disney Plus 17 years after Revenge of the Sith. And although the story set between Episode 3 and Episode 4 is to be understood as a mini-series – meaning that the story has been told to the end – McGregor definitely wants a second season.
But the chances of a second season for Kenobi are rather slim at the moment. Ewan McGregor himself emphasizes that so far no conversations
have taken place. At the moment, Lucasfilm is also looking to the future with the Star Wars universe.
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Kenobi: The official trailer for the Star Wars series announces the return of Darth Vader
This is what the future of Star Wars looks like
Star Wars is heading into a new era: The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett and Ahsoka, which all take place after Episode 6, are heading towards a big cinematic finale. The planned Rey film with Daisy Ridley is even supposed to have one neue Don’t
for Star Wars and of course play after episode 9. It remains to be seen whether there will still be room for Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan.
You can find out more about the future of Star Wars – for example new movies and TV series for Disney Plus – under the links above. For example, Ahsoka: Season 2 and a new movie, The Mandalorian & Grogu, were recently announced. You shouldn’t look forward to more Boba Fett.
