It's an exciting time to be a Star Wars fan. While the community may have been skeptic when the franchise was purchased by Disney, it's clear that the House of Mouse is extremely invested in the future of a galaxy far, far away. Because in addition to the main franchise installments that began with The Force Awakens, Disney will be supplementing fans with standalone films. Considering the massive critical and box office success of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, we should expect plenty of these spinoffs to come in the coming years. But will Obi-Wan get his own movie?
Ewan McGregor recently spoke to EW about the long rumored Obi-Wan Kenobi movie. While he's made it clear he'd be down to reprise the role, McGregor have a pretty concrete reason why it's not happening anytime soon. He said,
It would be a good segue between the last episode of the prequels and the new episodes. I think they've got films to make until the 2020s, so I don't think it's going to happen soon if it happens at all.
Well this sucks. While both the fans and Ewan McGregor have been calling for it, it looks like an Obi-Wan standalone film isn't happening anytime soon. There are other projects coming down the pipeline.
As soon as the standalone films were announced, fans assumed that Obi-Wan Kenobi would be getting a solo Tatooine adventure of his own. Just like Rogue One, an Obi-Wan story could help bridge the gap between the divisive prequel trilogy and A New Hope. While Obi-Wan decided to hide in exile on Tatooine after the events of Revenge of the Sith, there are about 16 years to be accounted for before Luke meets up with "Old Ben" in Episode IV.
Logistically, an Obi-Wan Kenobi movie also makes sense given Ewan McGregor's age. McGregor is still the perfect age to play Obi-Wan, as he's been aging the same rate that his character would have been since Revenge of the Sith. McGregor's performance is one of the highlights of the otherwise meh prequels, so he's the perfect person to bridge the gap between the films.
The next Star Wars standalone film is the still untitled Han Solo movie, starring Alden Ehrenreich. This highly anticipated installment will give background to everyone's favorite smuggler, including how he and Chewbacca met.
But aside from the Han Solo movie, Disney has yet to officially announce where the next standalone film(s) will go. While a Boba Fett movie seems like the most likely option, it hasn't officially been announced. Lucasfilm's Kathleen Kennedy teased that the next announcements may come as soon as this summer, although this would depend on how the creative process is going. Fingers crossed, because all of this speculation is getting dizzying.
The next adventure in a galaxy far, far away will be Star Wars: The Last Jedi on December 15th, 2017. Check out our full 2017 release list and plan your next trip to the movies.
