Once the lucrative deal was made between Lucasfilm and Disney for the ownership of a galaxy far, far away, it’s fair to say that the studio have made plans to reinvigorate the IP for a modern audience by introducing a Star Wars spin-off film intermittently between the confirmed trilogy of VII, VIII and IX.
Although, exactly which characters these projects will feature remains shrouded in mystery, with reports suggesting that the planned Boba Fett spin-off encountered problems purely because of its villainous and wholly ambiguous lead. Now, it seems the latest character to be in contention for their own spin-off is Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi.
At least, that’s the latest mooted rumour making the rounds today, courtesy of Making Star Wars.
“For the spin-off movies they were initially going to stay away from any Jedi or Sith characters. But I’m hearing now that because of the popularity of Obi-Wan (fans recently voting for him on the official website etc.) that an art team is now working with a writer on concepts for an Obi-Wan movie.”
While it’s safe to take this speculation with a grain of salt (much like every Star Wars-related tidbit), an Obi-Wan-centric movie makes perfect sense. After all, the character is one of the few personas that appears across the entire series on screen and, taking the site’s recent poll into consideration, it appears his reputation hasn’t waned in that time — a feat that can also be attributed to the popular Clone Wars animated series.
Whether this puts Ewan McGregor in contention for a potential return to the franchise remains to be seen, though it’s understood the Scottish actor would consider a return to the Star Wars universe providing his role makes narrative sense.
“The only bit that I could get away with doing is after the last one I made, Episode III,” McGregor told MTV last year. “Before Alec Guinness, there’s that period where he’s in the desert. That might be my window, there, to tell that story. I don’t know what he did in the desert. We could make up some stuff.”
As of now, there’s no word on a release date for the potential Obi-Wan Kenobi spin-off or indeed any of the Star Wars spin-offs. We do, however, understand that Josh Trank and Gareth Edwards will direct one of several planned features, and we’ll be sure to keep you updated on the status of the projects as more information appears.