Ewan McGreggor Confirms That The Obi-Wan Series Has Been In Development For Six Years

The Obi-Wan Kenobi series starring Ewan McGregor has long been in the works. Even going as far back as the lead-up to The Force Awakens, I remember when fans were hoping for an Obi-Wan Kenobi movie. Over the years, there were rumors and reports that it was happening. In interviews, Ewan McGregor said that he would like to return to the role. Finally, at Disney's D23 Expo last year, it was confirmed that the story would happen as a series, when Ewan McGregor met up with Lucasfilm's president Kathleen Kennedy onstage. At that time, McGregor mentioned how he had spent a long time trying not to reveal anything in interviews until the project was announced officially. It seems like this has been happening for a long time.

There is a podcast hosted by Josh Horowitz titled by Happy Sad Confused! On that podcast, McGregor made a comment about how long this particular Obi-Wan Kenobi story has been in the works.

"I'm very excited- I really am very excited about it... We've been talking about doing (the series) for four, five, maybe more years... I'm excited about the fact that it's a series as opposed to a movie. It gives us more space. And I'm mainly excited because of The Mandalorian series which I thought was really good. We're gonna adopt some of that technology that they utilized in that filming. And I'm working with Deborah Chow who directed some of Mandalorian and I'm really excited about working with her."

So it sounds like it may have been in the works for a bit more than five years, if we are to take his word, thus revealing the possibility that this has been going on as far back as 2014. The year before, I have noticed, is when John Jackson Miller's Star Wars: Kenobi novel came out. So it was probably clear to Lucasfilm from its reception how popular Kenobi is. At least that is my guess. 2014 is notable for being when the Star Wars canon "reset," rebranding the Expanded Universe as Legends, premiering Star Wars Rebels, revealing the cast for The Force Awakens, and airing the first teaser trailer for that film. It sounds like this Kenobi project has been a long time coming and part of those initial plans for how to start moving forward with the Star Wars canon. Five films have since come and gone, and three animated series have ended, and a live-action series came around (which is now entering its second season), but we will finally get the Kenobi series that people have been asking for, though the intention is for it to last only as a standalone season. Plans could potentially change depending on reception, one might think, but approaching it as a one-and-done complete story is a great approach.

The series is set to begin production in March 2021, so 2022 seems like the likely year when the series will stream on Disney+. 2021 may already be packed, as we know that The Bad Batch will come out that year, as well as the Cassian Andor series. The Mandalorian season 3 is entering production soon, so we may see it that year as well. Plus, we have also heard via Kessel Run Transmissions that the Star Wars Rebels sequel series may come out in 2021. With the year being so jam-packed, it makes sense that the Kenobi series would be saved for 2022, when it has its own open space to play with on Disney+. The future of television seems to be very bright, as far as the franchise is concerned. Given McGregor's enthusiasm for the Kenobi series, it seems like a safe bet that viewers will be very satisfied with the story that we will eventually be given. All that we have to do is be patient.

Written By Steven Shinder

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