One of the worst-kept secrets at Lucasfilm over the last year or so is the fact that the studio was developing a project around the “Star Wars” character Obi-Wan Kenobi. Whether or not it was a movie or a TV series wasn’t known until Kathleen Kennedy announced it at the recent D23 event. But even though the upcoming Obi-Wan live-action streaming series is a new announcement, star Ewan McGregor says he’s known about it for a long time. Years, in fact.
According to a new interview with Men’s Journal, McGregor says that he’s been sitting on the big “Star Wars” secret for years and is extremely happy that fans know about it.
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“It’s a fucking massive relief,” he revealed. “Because for four years, I’ve been having to lie to people about it.”
While it’s now known that Obi-Wan will return in a new series, which McGregor revealed will be six, one-hour episodes and will begin filming in summer 2020, fans still don’t have much of a clue about what the new show might cover. Obviously, Obi-Wan is the star and it’s going to take place between ‘Revenge of the Sith’ and ‘A New Hope,’ but outside of that, it’s a big ol’ mystery. A mystery that McGregor is only willing to tease.
“The storyline sits between ‘Episode III’ and ‘Episode IV,’” McGregor said. “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.”
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As for how the actor plans on bridging the gap between the “Star Wars” prequels and the Original Trilogy, which found Obi-Wan played by Alec Guinness, it appears that McGregor is going to be channeling the late actor’s performance.
“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,” he said.
While it’s still not known when we might get the Obi-Wan series on Disney+, with filming beginning next summer, it’s likely not going to hit until 2021. But fans have already waited years for the series anyway, what’s the problem with waiting a couple of more?