Deadline has confirmed that Ewan McGregor is in negotiations to reprise his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi in a yet-to-be-titled Disney+ series. McGregor previously played the Jedi Master in the trilogy of Star Wars prequel films: The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith. He also lent his voice for a cameo appearance in 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Talk of McGregor returning to the Star Wars franchise stretches as far back as 2014 when Disney would only confirm that two directors were attached to stand-alone films. It was believed that a Obi-Wan-centered project was one of them.
While one of the rumored directors never got the opportunity to direct a stand-alone movie, the other person was Gareth Edwards, who would go on to direct Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
Rumors of a Obi-Wan stand-alone vehicle cropped up again in 2017 when Stephen Daldry, director of Billy Elliot and The Hours, was in talks to write and direct the project.
As it has become evident with those involved in the Marvel Cinematic Universe who have seen their characters transition into stand-alone Disney+ projects, being a TV actor doesn’t carry the same stigma that it used to.
Before the current television boom took on these various formats, film actors believed that appearing in TV was beneath them. But as we have seen nearly across the board, that line has been blurred considerably, and paved the way for actors like McGregor to take the leap as well.
Obi-Wan was played by Alec Guinness in the original trilogy.
