Despite the fact that fans have repeatedly panned Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace throughout its 16 year life span, there were a couple of bright spots in an otherwise dismal film. One such spot has always been Liam Neeson's performance as Jedi Knight/Obi Wan Kenobi's mentor, Qui-Gon Jinn. Unfortunately for those of us who were so amped to see Neeson wield a lightsaber, it was short lived as he was taken out by Darth Maul towards the end of the film. Of course, you can't keep a good Jedi down, and Neeson is keen on living up to that adage – should the opportunity be provided.
Yahoo UK got to sit down with Liam Neeson recently, in order to promote the theatrical release of Taken 3. But, of course, who can resist asking Neeson about his time in the Star Wars galaxy; especially with the prospect of one of the spin off films possibly being focused on the earlier adventures of Qui-Gon Jinn? Some might be surprised, but Neeson responded in the affirmative, stating that it would be, "terrific," to come back to the franchise.
Of course, this return of Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon would require some working around, thanks to his post-mortem status after Episode I. This is a fact even Neeson himself knows, as he stated the following in his interview:
I don’t know [how he would return], unless you went back in time or he becomes a hologram or something. He’s a Jedi, anything could happen. It’s Star Wars world!"
How quickly Liam Neeson has forgotten that he's already returned to the Star Wars world before, as a Force ghost advising Obi-Wan in three episodes of the animated series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars. It's an idea that the rest of the prequel trilogy actually flirted with, but never really got to use to its full potential. Seeing as the new Star Wars films are operating on a principle of fulfilling the promise the series once seemed to project into the world, it would be a great opportunity to have Luke Skywalker meet the spirit of the man who started his family's journey to greatness and infamy.
However, a spin off film chronicling the past of Qui-Gon Jinn would probably be the more fulfilling option, as it would give Liam Neeson an opportunity to shine in the Star Wars galaxy, without having to meddle with any of the trajectory of the main story line. The powers that be at Disney should be careful, as Liam Neeson's particular set of skills have been on ready display as of late, and the man is quite persuasive. Well... for the most part he is.
If you want to see Neeson's full interview with Yahoo, you can watch the video below. And for the record, even Liam Neeson has an opinion on Kylo Ren's lightsaber.
Liam Neeson can be seen in Taken 3 as of today, with Silence going before cameras this summer
