CinemaBlend participates in affiliate programs with various companies. We may earn commission when you click on or make purchases via links.
The Star Wars universe is going to blow up in a huge way in the next few years, and not from The Rise of Skywalker or anything else on the big screen, but because of Disney+'s upcoming slate of Force-filled TV series. Beyond the already critically lauded The Mandalorian and the still-untitled Cassian Andor series, Disney+ will also deliver a limited series centered entirely on Ewan McGregor's force-wielding Obi-Wan Kenobi. While details have been all but non-existent, McGregor himself is finally talking.
While many elements of the Obi-Wan Kenobi TV show are still under wraps, with the series entering the pre-production phases behind the scenes, Ewan McGregor is currently fans' best source of information on the matter. Here's what the upcoming Birds of Prey star had to say about his Star Wars future.
The storyline sits between Episode III and Episode IV. [Last time,] the Jedi Order was falling apart. It will be interesting to take a character we know in a way and show him—well, his arc will be quite interesting, I think. Dealing with that the fact that all the Jedi were slaughtered with the end of Episode III. It’s quite something to get over.
Granted, just about anything said about the show at this point should be taken with a grain of salt. Big Boss Kathleen Kennedy said that the Obi-Wan Kenobi series' scripts are all finished and polished, so the plot points are likely locked in, but considering how close to the vest Disney handles its Star Wars and MCU projects, everyone will likely keep a tight lid clamped down on major info for a while.
Fans had already made the sensible assumptions that Ewan McGregor's Obi-Wan TV show would connect the first two trilogies by setting its timeline between the events of The Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. Unlike the character's animated stint on The Clone Wars and his comic adventures that were set before the end of the still-polarizing prequel trilogy, Obi-Wan's return to live-action on Disney+ will be fans' first canonical peek at the Jedi legend's life in the years before he was killed by Darth Vader.
To that end, here's what Ewan McGregor told Men's Journal during an interview:
I want to get closer and closer to how Obi-Wan felt while Alec Guinness was playing him. I feel like I’m grayer and nearer him in age, so it’ll be easier to do that.
In a role that earned him a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the Academy Awards, Alec Guinness had passed 60 whenever he portrayed Obi-Wan Kenobi in 1977's Star Wars, while Ewan McGregor just turned 48 this year. As such, the Scottish star still has many years of wiggle room to go, though McGregor did reveal that his Disney+ series isn't filming until Summer 2020, and that's assuming everything goes according to play. The actor will certainly be a little closer to Guinness' age by the time the show is available to stream.
The small-screen Star Wars spinoff obviously won't be the most long-lasting and endless project, given the time constraints, and Ewan McGregor also confirmed that the limited series will take place over six hour-long episodes. That's half the total of Netflix's more traditional 13-count orders, and more in line with the shortened spans of Marvel's upcoming MCU TV shows, which will also reportedly be set for 6-8 episodes. (And at the highest price point imaginable for those relatively small numbers.)
Finally, while this isn't a big sign of anything to come, it's pretty hilarious to know that Ewan McGregor has apparently been sitting quietly on top of this Obi-Wan TV news for ages now, and had to be pretty bald-faced about his fibbing to fans and the press. In his words:
It’s a fucking massive relief. Because for four years, I’ve been having to lie to people about it.
Ewan McGregor may not have to lie about the Obi-Wan Kenobi show's existence anymore, but you can bet he'll still be keeping secrets until the show releases on Disney+ in the distant future. Expect to see it drop in 2021, but you can catch McGregor rocking the role of Danny Torrence in Mike Flanagan's upcoming horror Doctor Sleep, which works as a sequel to both Stephen King's The Shining novel, as well as Stanley Kubrick's cinematic adaptation.
