Obi-Wan Kenobi managed to satisfy many Star Wars fans, who very cleverly skim the line between fan service and engaged show, delaying many of his fan-enjoyable moments until the end of the run. One of these moments saw the return of Liam Neeson for the first time in more than 20 years as Qui-Gon Jinn in a live action form. It seems that while this appearance brought the series to a near-perfect end, it was an emotional experience for Neeson to be back in the franchise with his former co-star. Ewan McGregor.
Obi-Wan Kenobi premiered on Disney+ in May with a double episode that brought McGregor’s Jedi master back to the world of Star Wars at a time between Revenge of the Sith and A new hope. The story unexpectedly revolved around Kenobi’s relationship with a young Leia Organa rather than Luke Skywalker as expected, and this meant the series took some twists and turns towards the climax of the battle between Kenobi and Darth Vader.
However, for many, it was the little moments in the series’ final act that really ended the show on a high note. Almost like a coda to the story, the final shots saw Qui-Gon Jinn appear to Kenobi as a Force Ghost, leading him to his next challenge. While appearing on the San Sebastian Film Festival recently, Neeson recalled his feelings about the reunion.
“It was Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan on a camel, a real camel, and I. We practiced it before we shot it, and we just started crying, and it was wonderful. Those Star Wars we did, Phantom Menace, we shot it over 25 years ago. It came out in 1999.”
Liam Neeson Returns to Star Wars in Tales of The Jedi
Like many actors getting involved in a huge franchise like star wars, their time is never up unless they really want to. While Neeson’s involvement in the franchise could have easily ended with his character’s death in the phantom threat, Neeson returned to reprise his character in a few episodes of The Clone Wars and will do so again in the animated series Stories of the Jedi.
Whether he will be seen again in another live-action series or movie is currently up in the air and will likely be decided when the fate of a potential second season of Obi-Wan Kenobi is made clear. So far, there’s been no word from Lucasfilm on whether Ewan McGregor will reprise his iconic role, but there’s sure to be fan interest if it does.
Although Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy has previously said that the most important Star Wars the focus in the future will be on big screen movies, for now the focus is all on Disney+ where Andoro has just made a successful debut, and The Mandalorian’s third season is not far off. While these shows are in no way going to bring back McGregor or Neeson, we can hope they both will be back sometime in the near future.