Obi-Wan Kenobi has finally kicked off, and its first two episodes alone were already loaded with familiar faces, from Joel Edgerton’s Uncle Owen to Hayden Christensen’s Darth Vader. Someone we’ve been expecting to see in the show since it was announced, however, has yet to appear or even be confirmed to be involved. That’s Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan’s much-missed master, as played to perfection by Liam Neeson in The Phantom Menace.
Neeson himself isn’t ruling out a reprisal of Qui-Gon in the franchise, but he does have one big stipulation for a potential comeback. The Irish actor voiced interest in a possible live-action Star Wars return while speaking to ComicBook.com (via Reddit, see below) but made clear that he’s not interested in a small-screen role. “Oh, I think so. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I think so,” when asked if he’d consider donning Jinn’s wig again. “If it was a film. Yes, I’m a bit of a snob when it comes to TV, but I just like the big screen, you know.”
The only thing is that fans aren’t buying it. You see, Neeson was just confirmed this past weekend to be voicing Qui-Gon in upcoming animated anthology series Tales of the Jedi. So the Taken star claiming that he won’t do TV seems like it might be a bit of a white lie to hide a cameo in a certain ongoing Disney Plus show.
This isn’t the first time he’s played the part on the small screen, either, as he’s already voiced Qui-Gon in The Clone Wars. So our bulls**t detector’s definitely picking up something here.
Some are convinced Neeson’s sticking to this fib due to an NDA Lucasfilm made him sign.
He’d at least do a voice-over role for Kenobi, right?
Others have no doubt that he’ll be back in Obi-Wan.
Don’t forget, this guy lies for a living, people.
It doesn’t hurt Neeson’s chances of a cameo that Qui-Gon is mentioned several times in the opening episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi as Ewan McGregor’s hero is desperately waiting to receive a visitation from his master’s Force Ghost. They wouldn’t just set this up and then leave it hanging, would they?
We’ll find out if Qui-Gon’s gone for good as Obi-Wan Kenobi streams new episodes on Wednesdays.