Ewan McGregor Says There's Still a Missing Decade of Obi-Wan Kenobi's Story Left to Tell
There are plenty of corners of the Star Wars timeline that have been explored over the years, but according to Ewan McGregor, one of the most interesting chapters is still sitting wide open.
While fans got a new Obi-Wan story with the Obi-Wan Kenobi series, McGregor believes there's still a huge stretch of the Jedi Master's life that hasn't been properly explored.
During a quickfire interview with his The End of Oak Street co-star Anne Hathaway for Esquire, McGregor was asked what he considers to be the "unfinished" part of Obi-Wan's story. His answer pointed directly to the years between the Disney+ series and Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope.
"Everything that we did between the end of the TV series that we did and Alec Guinness [in A New Hope]. There's 10 years of something happening to Obi-Wan," McGregor said.
"At the end of the series, I leave Luke on Tatooine, Princess Leia is safe, and I go off into the desert on my camel – a eopie, I think they're called."
When Obi-Wan Kenobi wrapped up in 2022, Obi-Wan had found a renewed sense of purpose after years of isolation. Luke Skywalker was back under the watchful eye of Owen and Beru Lars, Leia Organa had safely returned home to Alderaan, Darth Vader had survived yet another confrontation with his former master, and Obi-Wan was finally beginning to reconnect with the Force as Qui-Gon Jinn appeared to him.
Then the story jumps ahead roughly a decade to the version of Obi-Wan played by Alec Guinness in A New Hope. That's a lot of years left unexplored for one of the franchise's most beloved characters.
McGregor's return also reunited him with Hayden Christensen, giving fans another chance to see Obi-Wan and Anakin Skywalker share the screen during the dark days of the Empire. Even after that series, though, it still feels like there are compelling stories waiting to be told from Obi-Wan's years of exile.
Lucasfilm has already filled in some of those gaps through comics. Marvel's 2015 Star Wars series featured journal entries written by an older Obi-Wan, chronicling his life on Tatooine as he secretly watched over young Luke Skywalker.
There was also the five-issue Obi-Wan comic miniseries released in 2022, which follows the Jedi reflecting on different moments from his past while living alone in his desert hut.
Those stories prove there's interesting material to draw from, but seeing McGregor step back into the robes for another live-action adventure would be a very different experience.
Personally, I wasn't the biggest fan of the Obi-Wan Kenobi series. It had some great moments, especially the emotional scenes between Obi-Wan and Vader, but as a whole the series never fully came together for me.
That said, I absolutely think there's still room to tell better, stronger stories with Obi-Wan. That missing decade has plenty of storytelling potential, and with the right creative team, Lucasfilm could deliver something that really captures what made the character so compelling in the first place.
Whether that happens in another Disney+ series, a movie, or something else entirely remains to be seen, but McGregor is right. There's still ten years of Obi-Wan Kenobi's life that fans have barely seen, and that's an opportunity that feels too good to ignore.
Meanwhile, Ahsoka Season 2 is expected to arrive in 2027, while Star Wars: Starfighter, directed by Shawn Levy and starring Ryan Gosling, is currently scheduled to hit theaters on May 28, 2027.