Earlier this year, “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace” actor Liam Neeson told Collider that he would be open to the idea of reprising his role as Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn in the upcoming “Obi-Wan Kenobi” series. Resurrections aren’t out of the ordinary in this fantasy franchise, and force ghosts of fallen Jedi are clearly an already established device. “Star Wars: Revenge of The Sith” even teased the idea of force ghosts and communicating with the dead. Yoda tells Obi-Wan that he learned to communicate with Qui-Gon in his astral presence and that during his exile on Tatooine, Obi-Wan should learn and train to do the same. It seemed a no-brainer that Qui-Gon would appear to fulfill this moment.
With “Obi-Wan Kenobi” now in production, there had been growing rumblings of Neeson’s return. However, if a new statement is to be believed, Neeson hasn’t been contacted by Lucasfilm about returning and doesn’t believe he will return for the series. The actor appeared on ABC‘s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” (see below) to promote his upcoming action thriller “The Ice Road” and dismissed those rumors.
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“I heard Ewan McGregor was gonna do a series,” Neeson told Jimmy Kimmel during their late-night chat. “No, I don’t think so. No, I haven’t been approached,” he said when asked if he would appear.
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In the series, Ewan McGregor returns to the iconic role of Obi-Wan Kenobi alongside fellow prequel star Hayden Christensen reprising the Anakin Skywalker role as the studio said he’d be playing Sith Lord Darth Vader. However, we expect James Earl Jones will be voicing him, and Christensen will appear in flashbacks.
The rest of the cast consists of Indira Varma, Kumail Nanjiani, Sung Kang, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Benny Safdie, Rupert Friend, Joel Edgerton, Moses Ingram, Bonnie Piesse, Simone Kessell, and Maya Erskine.
We’ll keep our fingers crossed that the series will bring the Inquisitors to the live-action side of the franchise after being previously seen in “Star Wars: Rebels” and the popular canonical video game “Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.” There have already been small hints from cast members that there will indeed be lightsaber action going on, and it’s all but confirmed that a young Luke Skywalker could be appearing (plus a young Leia if you listened to our recent podcast).
Deborah Chow is set to direct the six-episode run after doing a fantastic job directing action-packed episodes for “The Mandalorian.” ‘Kenobi’ is expected to debut on Disney+ at some point in 2022, and “The Book of Boba Fett” (recently wrapped) is going to be the next “Star Wars” show to air on the streaming service later this year.