Rumors have circulated for years that Ewan McGregor would reprise his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi in a Star Wars spinoff, with little sign of actual movement. Now, following an apparent debunking of a report that Lucasfilm has placed its anthology films on hold, comes rumors that the Jedi Master may not only be destined for a series on Disney’s new streaming service but also a role in Episode IX.
According to the U.K. newspaper The Sun, McGregor will “secretly film for the next Star Wars movie.” If true, that wouldn’t be the first time the actor has worked on the current Star Wars trilogy, as he lent his voice to the sequence in Star Wars: The Force Awakens in which Rey has a Force vision.
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These reports are purely rumors at this point, but it’s interesting to note that the same sources The Sun cites also note that “Disney have been mulling over a stand-alone film for Obi-Wan. There have been concerns about getting the story right.”
While you would expect that McGregor’s role would be a fairly minor one, as a Jedi Ghost, it’s important to point out that Yoda’s appearance in Star Wars: The Last Jedi was also as “just” a Jedi Ghost and yet was key to the final act. It wouldn’t be out of the question to expect Obi-Wan’s presence in Episode IX to have a similar impact.
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Not only that, but it might be important that the same unnamed “Los Angeles sources” cited by The Sun to establish that McGregor will be in the film also made a point to mention that Disney has been considering a stand-alone film for the character, so long as the story is right. There is a real possibility, then, that Obi-Wan’s role in this film might be designed to set up a new movie. Perhaps he will make reference to some event that took place before A New Hope that the spinoff could address.
The confusing aspect of these rumors is that with Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker and Han Solo dead and Leia presumably written out of the story as well, the only character left in the series who have any connection to Obi-Wan Kenobi would be Chewbacca, R2-D2 and C-3P0. Unless, of course, the “truth” about Rey’s parentage wasn’t completely addressed in The Last Jedi, and she does have some sort of familial relationship to Obi-Wan.
We will know for sure when Episode IX is released in December 2019.