After years of waiting, “Star Wars” actor Ewan McGregor was able to finally explore his lone wolf Jedi Masters character in the “Obi-Wan Kenobi” Disney+ series prequel. Initially envisioned as three films, Lucasfilm eventually pivoted towards a series in 2018, and some of the longer, darker ideas were scrapped. While speaking with Vanity Fair to promote his new series “A Gentleman In Moscow,” McGregor revealed that some of the earlier ideas for “Obi-Wan Kenobi” and his exile-in Tatooine story were much darker and involved sequences with a drunk Obi-Wan working in a bar and spiritually lost.
“The first episode used to start with me as a waiter in a bar. He’s really lost his way, Obi-Wan,” McGregor told Vanity Fair about the unused ideas for the “Star Wars” series. “He’s drinking too much. I got beaten up. People are kicking me, and I’m just taking it, then stalking out into the night. That was our first idea, anyway.”
“We were talking about a movie at that point, not a TV series,” McGregor said about his initial conversations with Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy. “Disney+ wasn’t there yet. I said, ‘All I can see is him broken after some time after ‘Episode III,’ and he’s in a really dark place.’”
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It’s possible there was some intention to link Obi-Wan’s Catina scenes in “Star Wars: A New Hope” to the “Obi-Wan” series, the Jedi Master not seeming out of place in that bar.
“Obi-Wan: Kenobi” did feature some dark elements, Kenobi not really using his force powers anymore, and one particular tragic section in episode one saw him forsake the on-the-run Jedi, Nari (Benny Safdie), who was later killed and hanged by the Inquisitors. Kenobi could have stopped it and intervened, but he knew revealing himself could easily lead to the death and/or discovery of Luke Skywalker; protecting him was the ultimate mission.
The chances of a second season seem slim at this point, but McGregor has previously mentioned an openness to make a miraculous return if Lucasfilm wanted to bring him back. However, we don’t know how much audience enthusiasm there is to watch Kenobi wander the endless desert on Tatooine and meditate with Force ghosts. Could a deeper, more engaging story be told one day that doesn’t upset the “Star Wars” canon and supposed legacy of Obi-Wan hanging out on Tatooine for 18 years waiting for Luke Skywalker to grow up? Time will tell.