Ewan McGregor is in talks to return as Jedi master Obi Wan Kenobi in a series for Disney Plus, Variety has confirmed.
No other details on the potential series were available. McGregor previously played the character in the three “Star Wars” prequels “The Phantom Menace,” “Attack of the Clones,” and “Revenge of the Sith.” There had been talk for years that McGregor would return in an Obi Wan standalone film, but those plans were reportedly put on hold following the unsuccessful roll out of “Star Wars” standalone film “Solo.”
Reps for McGregor and Disney Plus did not immediately respond to Variety’s request for comment.
The Obi Wan series would be the third live-action “Star Wars” show on Disney Plus. The nascent streamer has previously announced “The Mandalorian” from Jon Favreau starring Pedro Pascal as well as a series based on Cassian Andor, the character first introduce in the film “Rogue One” with Diego Luna reprising his role from the film.
The show would be McGregor’s second major TV role in recent years. He won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Emmy for his role in the third season of the FX series “Fargo,” playing twin brothers Emmit and Ray Stussy. McGregor is primarily known for his film work. He will star in the upcoming “The Shining” follow up “Doctor Sleep,” which is due out in November. He will also play the DC villain Black Mask in the film “Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn).” His other notable film roles include “Trainspotting,” “Moulin Rouge,” and “Black Hawk Down.”
He is repped by UTA.
Disney Plus is also building out the television side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with high-priced limited series in the works focused on character like Hawkeye, Loki, Scarlet Witch and Vision, and Falcon and Winter Soldier.
I'll bet the rent it's going to be like Kung Fu, only instead of waiting 57 minutes every week for David Carradine to stop wandering the desert long enough to beat the shit out of the bad guys, the audience will spend most of each episode waiting for McGregor to cut a bad guy with his lightsaber.
Yeah, I'd watch that.
Re: Ewan McGregor to play Obi-Wan Kenobi on TV
Posted: 2019-08-16 01:17am
by Galvatron
That seems more like a Mace Windu thing.
Re: Ewan McGregor to play Obi-Wan Kenobi on TV
Posted: 2019-08-16 01:24am
by FaxModem1
Galvatron wrote: ↑2019-08-16 01:17am
That seems more like a Mace Windu thing.
Before or after he's thrown out a window with an arm cut off?
Re: Ewan McGregor to play Obi-Wan Kenobi on TV
Posted: 2019-08-16 11:48pm
by The Romulan Republic
Hmm. If this goes through, I'm guessing at least part of Rebels gets overwritten from canon, because they won't be able to resist showing the final confrontation between Kenobi and Maul in live action.
Edit: On the plus side, it would potentially let them finish Qi'ra's story with Maul, since its pretty clear Solo ain't getting a sequel.
Re: Ewan McGregor to play Obi-Wan Kenobi on TV
Posted: 2019-08-17 04:56am
by Lord Revan
The Romulan Republic wrote: ↑2019-08-16 11:48pm
Hmm. If this goes through, I'm guessing at least part of Rebels gets overwritten from canon, because they won't be able to resist showing the final confrontation between Kenobi and Maul in live action.
possibly or they could just do a live action version of the showdown as shown in rebels, that's assuming the timelines overlap obviously.
Personally I'd wish they'd keep the Rebels encounter as it perfectly showed how the difference between "Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi" and "old hermit Ben Kenobi" while at the same time showing they're still the same person and all this was done without really saying a single word.
Re: Ewan McGregor to play Obi-Wan Kenobi on TV
Posted: 2019-08-18 06:10am
by ray245
They could have made an Obi-Wan movie that people actually wanted to watch in the cinema and make a Han Solo TV series with less initial audience interest. But no, Disney is being idiotic at managing the SW franchise because they are always listening to the demands of fans a generation prior instead of the evolved taste of the current SW fans.
Re: Ewan McGregor to play Obi-Wan Kenobi on TV
Posted: 2019-08-18 06:17pm
by Galvatron
I don't recall any fans demanding a Solo movie, regardless of generation.
Re: Ewan McGregor to play Obi-Wan Kenobi on TV
Posted: 2019-08-18 06:34pm
by Gandalf
Also, what's an evolved taste in this context?
Galvatron wrote: ↑2019-08-18 06:17pm
I don't recall any fans demanding a Solo movie, regardless of generation.
Speak for yourself. After the decanonising of the EU, I really needed to know the origin of Han's trouser stripe.
Re: Ewan McGregor to play Obi-Wan Kenobi on TV
Posted: 2019-08-18 06:36pm
by Iroscato
Gandalf wrote: ↑2019-08-18 06:34pm
Also, what's an evolved taste in this context?
Something something KOTOR, I'd wager.
Re: Ewan McGregor to play Obi-Wan Kenobi on TV
Posted: 2019-08-18 10:10pm
by Solauren
There was a Obi-wan novel, set a few days after him dropping Luke off at the Lars, as he settles into Tattooine.
That would make an excellent 'Season 1', or entire mini-series if they only want to do a single short season.
Re: Ewan McGregor to play Obi-Wan Kenobi on TV
Posted: 2019-08-19 03:50am
by ray245
Galvatron wrote: ↑2019-08-18 06:17pm
I don't recall any fans demanding a Solo movie, regardless of generation.
I remember people talking about a young Han Solo movie back in the early 2000s.
Re: Ewan McGregor to play Obi-Wan Kenobi on TV
Posted: 2019-08-19 04:31am
by Galvatron
Talking about =/= demanding
I remember people talking about the prospect of a young Han Solo showing up in the prequels and pretty universally rejecting the idea as unnecessary and stupid.
Re: Ewan McGregor to play Obi-Wan Kenobi on TV
Posted: 2019-08-19 06:40am
by ray245
I do remember a fair bit of demand from some fans.
Re: Ewan McGregor to play Obi-Wan Kenobi on TV
Posted: 2019-08-19 10:26am
by houser2112
I don't understand how people could want a Kenobi movie/series over a Solo movie/series (from a "how much story is there to tell?" standpoint, personal fandom of each character aside).
There seems to be no time elapsed between when Kenobi says he'll take Luke on Tantive IV to when he delivers Luke to Owen and Beru on Tatooine, and Kenobi seems to have done little after that other than keep an eye on Luke from the shadows and grow old. The "A New Sith, or Revenge of the Hope" fan theory suggests he was up to more, but that's just a fan theory.
Han Solo has a lot more backstory that could be told, since we don't know anything about him or Chewie prior to the Cantina scene in ANH. How did Chewie, Clone Wars hero and personal friend of Yoda, come to be partners with a low-life like Han? How did Han come to work for Jabba, become well respected, and then become persona non grata?
Re: Ewan McGregor to play Obi-Wan Kenobi on TV
Posted: 2019-08-19 10:58am
by ray245
houser2112 wrote: ↑2019-08-19 10:26am
I don't understand how people could want a Kenobi movie/series over a Solo movie/series (from a "how much story is there to tell?" standpoint, personal fandom of each character aside).
There seems to be no time elapsed between when Kenobi says he'll take Luke on Tantive IV to when he delivers Luke to Owen and Beru on Tatooine, and Kenobi seems to have done little after that other than keep an eye on Luke from the shadows and grow old. The "A New Sith, or Revenge of the Hope" fan theory suggests he was up to more, but that's just a fan theory.
Han Solo has a lot more backstory that could be told, since we don't know anything about him or Chewie prior to the Cantina scene in ANH. How did Chewie, Clone Wars hero and personal friend of Yoda, come to be partners with a low-life like Han? How did Han come to work for Jabba, become well respected, and then become persona non grata?
Because the story matter less than seeing Ewan McGregor back as the main lead?
Solo had a decent well written story. The problem is no one wanted to watch another actor portray Han Solo.
I'll gladly watch a movie about Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan mediating for an hour.
Re: Ewan McGregor to play Obi-Wan Kenobi on TV
Posted: 2019-08-19 11:30am
by houser2112
Hey, I like EM too, but I don't find it remotely compelling to watch him meditate.
Re: Ewan McGregor to play Obi-Wan Kenobi on TV
Posted: 2019-08-19 11:45am
by Galvatron
It's entirely possible that he had adventures that took him off-world during the 20 years between ROTS and ANH. That would explain his familiarity with the Mos Eisley cantina and his seeming first-hand knowledge that most of the best pilots could be found there.
Re: Ewan McGregor to play Obi-Wan Kenobi on TV
Posted: 2019-08-19 12:33pm
by ray245
houser2112 wrote: ↑2019-08-19 11:30am
Hey, I like EM too, but I don't find it remotely compelling to watch him meditate.
Probably, but any Obi Wan movie is going to be a slow paced introspective movie than an action adventure movie.
Galvatron wrote: ↑2019-08-20 01:16pm
I think it's a bit premature to declare what it either will or won't be.
We know an Obi-Wan story can't have him revealing to everyone he's on Tatootine.
Obi-wan gets news about interesting event and is either asked or decides to intervene.
Obi-wan leaves Tatooine and does stuff. Obi-wan doesn't tell anybody he's from Tatooine.
Obi-wan goes back to Tatooine once his adventures are complete. Nobody but maybe a Rebel or two knows he's on Tatooine.
There, done.
Never mind that Bail Organa almost certainly had some idea of where Obi-wan was, seeing as the Tantive IV went there directly from Scarif. So it's not like his existence there is a -complete- secret.
Re: Ewan McGregor to play Obi-Wan Kenobi on TV
Posted: 2019-08-20 03:40pm
by Galvatron
Maybe he'll even visit Yoda on Dagobah for reasons.