Since Disney bought out Lucasfilm back in 2012 and announced they were expanding the Star Wars universe far beyond anything we’ve ever seen, there has been a constant stream of rumors and speculation about what we might see in the future. One that just won’t go away is a potential trilogy based on legendary Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi, and those rumors just got another boost.
There’s been a lot of talk about the standalone spinoff movies lately, but while those are concrete, the idea of an Obi-Wan-centric series of movies has been more nebulous. Ewan McGregor is reportedly in talks with Disney for an unknown project, but according to Schmoes Know’s sources, the discussions are specifically about him reprising his role as the venerable Jedi Knight. This is all super unconfirmed and unofficial in every way, so be sure to take it with a huge grain of salt, but it is an interesting proposition to consider.
It’s possible he could show up as a Force ghost, popping in to advise Luke Skywalker on some important matter or another, but according to the source that’s not the case and he’s being recruited:
not to be a force ghost, but for a post-Episode III Kenobi.
And again, they go on to mention the possibility that an entire Obi-Wan trilogy could be in the works. The Jedi is obviously a hugely important figure in the overall Star Wars mythology, and McGregor’s performance, taking over the role from Alec Guinness, is one of the high points of the much-maligned prequel trilogy. So maybe this isn’t actually as crazy as it initially sounds.
Should this come to pass, it appears it would exist outside of the Episode movies, like Star Wars: The Force Awakens, as well as the Anthology films, like Gareth Edwards’ Rogue One. Especially as the latter films sound like they focusing on elements of the universe that aren’t directly related to the Jedi and the Force.
There is definitely a lot of ground that could be explored, and many stories that fall into this general timeframe. Revenge of the Sith ends with Obi-Wan delivering an infant Luke to Owen and Beru on Tatooine, and we don’t see him again until Luke is a teen. For a man on a mission, you know there are some awesome stories in these years.
A trilogy of films like this could serve to fill in some knowledge gaps in the franchise, which is something many of the new Star Wars properties seek to accomplish, as well as give fans more from one of their favorite characters. The post-Sith, pre-A New Hope era is also territory currently being covered by the animated Star Wars Rebels, where Obi-Wan has popped up, and we know that this is a time of great turmoil, strife, and change in that far away galaxy. If that doesn’t have the makings of a potentially great story, what does?
