Scottish actor Ewan McGregor, who played Jedi Knight Obi-wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel movies, confirmed he will reprise the role created by Sir Alec Guinness in a TV series on Disney +. The series which will focus on the adventures of the young Jedi after the Republic fell. Production will begin in March 2021. Since the radio adaptation of Star Wars: A New Hope said Ben Kenobi watched out for young Luke Skywalker and saved his life at least once, presumably at least some of the new show will be set on Tattooine.
To watch this clip from The Graham Norton Show, pause the SCIFI.radio stream. Unless you have the ears of a Ferengi, you can’t listen to both at once. Pause the SCIFI.radio player stream using the controller at the upper right (or at the bottom of the page if you’re on a mobile device) and see for yourself.
McGregor said “It’s not all me, but it certainly will be a lot of me, which is good. We start shooting it in March next year.”
It was previously rumored that the show would last a single season, however, it may last longer if the ratings are good. The show has been in pre-production limbo for a while, between Covid and Iranian writer Hossein Amini (one of the writers of Snow White and the Huntsman) leaving the project. British writer/producer Joby Harold (executive producer of the 2018 Robin Hood and Edge of Tomorrow) will be taking over scriptwriting duties. Deborah Chow, who has directed two episodes of The Mandalorian and one of American Gods, will be directing several episodes of the as yet-unnamed Kenobi show.
In addition to playing a young Obi-wan Kenobi in Star Wars I – III, Ewan McGregor also appeared in the Harley Quinn movie as Roman Sionis, and starred as a grown up Christopher Robin in Disney’s Christopher Robin.
The show will be going directly to Disney+, Disney’s streaming service, rather than ABC, which Disney owns, or one of their cable channels.
The news comes after production came to a screeching halt back in January. The cast and crew had been sent home after assembling at Pinewood Studios in London, with the production shutting down “indefinitely.” It was believed the shutdown was due to Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy‘s dissatisfaction with the scripts. A few months later, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum executive producer Joby Harold was hired to pen a new set of scripts after Hossein Amini‘s departure from the series around the time of the shutdown. Deborah Chow remains in the director’s chair for the series. There is no indication as yet as to who else might be joining Obi-Wan in these new stories.
We’re always interested in hearing from our fans. What do you think of the new Kenobi show? Are you looking forward to seeing Ewan McGregor reprise his role as Obi-wan Kenobi? What are you hoping to see as galactic hero Obi-wan evolves into “Old Ben,” the crazy desert hermit?
-30-
Susan Macdonald is the author of the children’s book “R is for Renaissance Faire”, as well as 26 short stories, mostly fantasy in “Alternative Truths”, “Swords and Sorceress #30”, Swords &Sorceries Vols. 1, 2, & 5, “Cat Tails” “Under Western Stars”, and “Knee-High Drummond and the Durango Kid”. Her articles have appeared on SCIFI.radio’s web site, in The Inquisitr, and in The Millington Star. She enjoys Renaissance Faires (see book above), science fiction conventions, Highland Games, and Native American pow-wows.
