The post-mortem on the latest Star Wars Disney+ program continues now that all six episodes of Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan Kenobi show has played out, and some fans are speculating on what could have been if Lucasfilm maintained its plans to make a trilogy of films around the legendary Jedi master. We made a list of the biggest questions we had about the show heading into its finale, and one of them involved the safety of young Luke Skywalker, who was introduced as part of the storyline. And now, while speaking at a fan convention, McGregor confirmed the rumors that this story once was supposed to be a trilogy of movies, and Luke would have been a primary focus.
Ewan McGregor took place in a panel at the FAN EXPO Boston on Sunday and, via ComicBook, touched on the early plans for Obi-Wan Kenobi to be a film – and a posible trilogy – that would have detailed the Jedi’s life on Tatooine. This was Kenobi’s self-imposed exile, where he served as a protector to Luke. But after the Han Solo prequel movie underperformed (for reasons we could spend a decade debating), the decision was made to shift to a limited series, and McGregor praised it. The actor reportedly confirmed:
It was going to be a story about me and Luke. It was always going to be that, and that was one of the genius moments where everyone went, 'Wait a minute,' and then changed it.
Ewan McGregor isn’t the only creative associated with Obi-Wan Kenobi that believes the story worked better as a series on Disney+. Director and executive producer Deborah Chow called the format “perfect” to the story that they wanted to tell when she sat down with CinemaBlend during the show’s run, and we can take all of that with a grain of salt because we don’t know fully what happened during the pre-production conversations. At some point, yes, they decided to pivot to a longer-form television series. And it received a mixed response, though Star Wars fans went into it with an open mind.
During his panel, Ewan McGregor also praised Lucasfilm and Disney for the lengths that they went to in order to protect the secrets of the show, saying in Boston:
I think it's really cool that Disney and Lucasfilm care so much for the fan experience. They really want you to have a 100% experience the first time you see it, and if you've read that, and that leaked, and this came out, it's just a bit of a shame isn't it? It's like looking at your Christmas presents before Christmas Day.
Protecting movie secrets and television secrets have become extremely difficult over the years, because fan interest in properties like Star Wars and Marvel is at an all-time high. There were massive Star Wars cameos that were part of the show that Lucasfilm wanted to keep from fans (and from the most part, largely succeeded), and there were teases that could be picked up for Obi-Wan Kenobi season two… if a second season were to happen. The show did break a few records, according to Disney+ promotion, which likely is a good sign that the story could continue on the streaming service. But until that happens, we just tyrn our attention to the upcoming streaming story Andor, and what that will do for the galaxy that exists far, far away.
