Ewan McGregor Could Play Obi-Wan Again in Series

• Ewan McGregor is "in talks" to return as Obi-Wan Kenobi for a new Star Wars Disney+ series.
• McGregor played Kenobi in all three Star Wars prequels: The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith.
• The series evolved out of original plans for a stand-alone Kenobi movie.

Hello there , Obi-Wan Kenobi.

The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline have both reported Ewan McGregor is currently "in talks" (industry lingo for basically all but official) to reprise his role as Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi in a new series for Disney+. McGregor previously played the role in all three of the Star Wars prequel movies: The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith. He also had a super-quick voiceover appearance in 2015's The Force Awakens, so it was clear that the Scottish actor's relationship with Lucasfilm was still a strong one.

The plans for this Disney+ series centered on Kenobi evolved from an original plan for a stand-alone movie, which was to be helmed by Billy Eliot director Stephen Daldry ; after the disappointing returns on 2018's Solo , Disney slowed their roll. This is how the once-planned Boba Fett movie evolved into this fall's upcoming series The Mandalorian , which will launch on Disney+'s first day, November 12.

Disney+ is increasingly becoming a hot landing spot for some very highly-anticipated pieces of intellectual property. In addition to the Star Wars series, the platform will also be the home for Marvel series centered on Loki, Hawkeye, Vision and Scarlet Witch, and, most prominently, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (which drop in Fall 2020).

Obi-Wan Kenobi is one of the most important and revered characters in the entire Star Wars canon. In the original Star Wars (now known as A New Hope), he was the first gateway into the world of the force, played into memories forever by Alec Guinness (who actually didn't care too much for Star Wars himself). Kenobi teaches Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) about the force, connects Luke and Han Solo (Harrison Ford) in the first place, and even has the series' first lightsaber battle with Darth Vader at the end of the first movie.

While the prequel trilogy received mixed reviews (to put it nicely), McGregor's performance was one aspect of the prequels that people seem to enjoy and praise to this day. McGregor, who rose to prominence with movies like Trainspotting in the '90s and has kept it going for the last 20+ years, is also due for a pair of major motion picture roles in the next year. He'll take Jack Nicholson's mantle as the lead in Doctor Sleep, which is the 39-years-later follow-up to The Shining. He'll also play the villain, Black Mask, in next year's DC Universe outing Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn).

And while most of his experience comes on the film side of things, McGregor is no stranger to television work either. He played twins in the third season of the acclaimed Fargo series; he won a Golden Globe, and was nominated for an Emmy for his work.

No release date has been floated yet for the upcoming Obi-Wan series, but we can expect it to be in the next few years. This December's Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will wrap up the franchise's current trilogy, and it would make sense for Lucasfilm to want to quickly establish more exciting prospects in the galaxy far, far away.