Ewan McGregor Wants to Spend the Rest of His Career Telling Obi-Wan Kenobi Stories
Ewan McGregor would happily grab a lightsaber, throw on the Jedi robes, and spend the rest of his career playing Obi-Wan Kenobi. There’s only one problem: Disney apparently hasn’t made the call.
McGregor has once again made it very clear that he wants to return to Star Wars, and he already knows exactly which part of Obi-Wan’s story he’d like to explore next.
With a sizable gap still sitting between the events of Obi-Wan Kenobi and A New Hope, the actor sees plenty of room for another adventure. Now he just needs Disney and Lucasfilm to see it, too.
While promoting his new movie The End of Oak Street, McGregor was asked about returning as the legendary Jedi. His answer was pretty straightforward.
"I’m ready whenever they are," he told E! News. "They just seem to not be ready, but I'm up for it."
McGregor last played Obi-Wan in the Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi in 2022, which reunited him with Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader.
The series ended with Obi-Wan reaching a much different place emotionally than where we found him at the beginning. He was finally able to loosen his watch over young Luke Skywalker, leave Tatooine behind for a while, and reconnect with his former Jedi Master, Qui-Gon Jinn.
For McGregor, that ending feels less like an open door. "At the end of the Obi-Wan series, I’m walking off into the desert and I’ve decided to leave. I’ve realized I can’t keep the pressure on Luke," he explains.
"I realized he has to have his own childhood, so I leave him with Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru. And I wander off… and Qui-Gon's back. And we go off… but where are we going? What happens between those two moments is what I want to do and spend the rest of my career doing these stories."
That could actually make for a pretty damn cool continuation. Obi-Wan communing with Qui-Gon while rediscovering his connection to the Force gives Lucasfilm a lot to play with without requiring the character to spend another season hiding in a cave and staring at Luke from a distance.
There are still years of unexplored history before we meet Alec Guinness’ version of the character in A New Hope. McGregor is well aware of that timeline, and he’s apparently keeping track of the clock.
"We’ve got plenty of time; I’ve got 10 years before I am Alec Guinesses’ age. So come on, Disney!"
McGregor has made similar comments about wanting another Obi-Wan Kenobi season before, so his enthusiasm clearly hasn’t faded.
In fact, saying he wants to spend the rest of his career telling stories from this period makes it sound like he’d be perfectly happy sticking around the galaxy far, far away for as long as Lucasfilm will have him.
The weird part is that the upcoming Star Wars slate could certainly use another familiar face. Despite years of movie and television announcements, the list of projects that appear to be actively moving forward is surprisingly short.
Ryan Gosling is leading the standalone film Star Wars: Starfighter, while Ahsoka Season 2 has completed filming. Beyond those projects, there’s still plenty of uncertainty surrounding what will actually make it to screens.
That could change soon. D23 is coming up, giving Disney a major stage to reveal what’s next for Star Wars following the release of The Mandalorian and Grogu earlier this year. New films and series could certainly be announced during the event, but judging from McGregor’s comments, fans probably shouldn’t go into it expecting Obi-Wan Kenobi Season 2.
For now, McGregor remains ready to head back into the desert. Considering he’s giving Disney another decade to make it happen, hopefully someone answers the Jedi’s call before the twin suns set on the opportunity.