Obi-Wan: Ewan McGregor Got More Out Of Disney Plus Return Than ‘First Three Movies Put Together’

The world is ready to give Ewan McGregor a hearty “Hello there!” when he returns as Obi-Wan Kenobi, as the actor is reprising his role in the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi limited series on Disney+. The last time McGregor played Obi-Wan, he was closing out the prequel trilogy in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith way back in 2005. 

That trilogy was the story of Anakin Skywalker, however. That meant that while McGregor was there swinging his lightsaber around and doing a great job of filling the shoes of Alec Guinness, there wasn’t a lot for him to really do. With the upcoming eponymous series, the focus is squarely on Obi-Wan, and McGregor is happy for the change.

“It was nice to come back and to bridge that gap between me and Alec Guinness. I got as much, or more, out of playing him this time than I did in the first three movies put together,” he told Total Film magazine. “That’s to do with the writing, and the people we were making the series with, and the technology, and how different everything is.”

Obi-Wan Kenobi is a limited series, but McGregor’s experience has been so positive that he’s up for putting on those Jedi robes and wandering the dunes of Tatooine once again.

“If we were to get an opportunity to do it again, I’d be totally up for that,” he admitted.

Obi-Wan Kenobi will premiere on Disney+ on May 27 with two episodes. The show is starring McGregor, alongside Hayden Christensen, Joel Edgerton, Bonnie Piesse, Moses Ingram, Indira Varma, Rupert Friend, and Sung Kang. Deborah Chow is directing the series and Joby Harold is the showrunner, with John Williams and Natalie Holt composing the score.

Hayden Christensen has prepared hard for his own return as Darth Vader, binging all of the Star Wars animated shows as research. Christensen said revisting Anakin was “surreal,” but “natural” for him, despite the intervening years. And despite the long history between Obi-Wan and Darth Maul, that Sith Lord coming back in the Disney+ series was never in the cards.

Mike Williams is a freelance writer at IGN.