Even though two decades nearly passed between Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith and Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ewan McGregor picked the pieces up right where he previously left the character. Over the span of six episodes, McGregor’s reprisal of the Jedi Master was lauded by critics and fans alike with many clamoring for a second season. Unfortunately for those still holding out hope for a sophomore outing, McGregor now says there’s been zero chatter between he and folks at Lucasfilm about a second season for Obi-Wan Kenobi.
“I would love to do the second season, but there’s no talk of it yet. There is a lot going on at Disney,” McGregor said in a panel at G?teborg Film Festival (via Variety).
Despite having fallen in love with playing the character, McGregor told the trade it wasn’t always that way. In fact, McGregor said it was initially a hard sell to get him to board Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.
“It wasn’t a done deal for me. I didn’t think it was at all who I was. I believed, at that point, I was a Danny Boyle actor. The Beach was more important and I meant it, it wasn’t flippant. I did ask a lot of people for advice,” the actor said in his chat.
“I am happy that I am this character for a lot of people, but when these films came out, they were so disliked,” he added. “That was hard. The first one was panned and we still had to make another two! It was weird to be in a film that was hammered.”
Interestingly enough, Obi-Wan helmer Deborah Chow revealed last year she and McGregor discussed many ways a follow-up could go.
“You always think you’re going to end a series like this in some magnificent way, but instead you end up in a parking lot with second unit and hardly anybody there,” Chow said in a spotlight with THR at the time. “It’s always so anti-climactic, but as Ewan and I finished our very last shot on second unit and I was literally taking off my headphones, he was already pitching me ideas for season two. There’s another 10 years with plenty of stories, and I don’t think it’s off the board. It is a ‘never say never’ situation, but we really did conceive this to be a limited series.”
The first season of Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi is now streaming in its entirety on Disney+.
