Star Wars character Obi-Wan Kenobi was originally supposed to die in The Phantom Menace, a new interview has revealed.
As part of the celebrations for The Phantom Menace’s 25th anniversary, a new interview with concept and storyboard artist Iain McCaig (via StarWars.com) revealed that director George Lucas originally had very different plans for Obi-Wan Kenobi at the end of the film.
A further twist came via the fact that the characters of Ewan McGregor – who played Kenobi in the film – and Liam Neeson, who played Qui-Gon – were swapped around, meaning Neeson was originally slated to play Obi-Wan.
McCraig explained: “For a time, the older Jedi was named Obi-Wan and the younger Jedi was named Qui-Gon. It was very poignant that at the end, as Obi-Wan dies and Qui-Gon defeats Darth Maul and stays with his Master as he passes away, he not only takes on his Master’s quest, but he takes on his name. Qui-Gon becomes Obi-Wan.”
He added: “That’s why when you see Alec Guinness in A New Hope, he puts his hood down and goes, ‘Obi-Wan? Now that’s a name I’ve not heard…’” McCaig added. “Because he’s not Obi-Wan, he’s Qui-Gon. And right at the end, George changed it.”
While McGregor was always down to play the younger version of Alec Guinness’ Obi-Wan, The Phantom Menace would have changed the character’s origin story so that Qui-Gon adopts his Jedi mentor’s name.
McGregor reprised the role of Obi-Wan in two Star Wars sequels: 2002’s Attack of the Clones” and 2005’s Revenge of the Sith. After this, he reprised the role once more in the Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi.
The spin-off series, which debuted in May 2022, followed Obi-Wan’s journey to save a kidnapped Leia Organa (Vivien Lyra Blair) and return her to safety.
No second season has yet been confirmed for the show, but McGregor has previously shared his desire to return to the role in an interview with Variety.
“I really do hope we get a chance to do another one,” he told the publication. “Between where we ended off in the series and when Alec Guinness comes on screen with Luke Skywalker, I think there’s another few stories to tell in there.”
His co-star Hayden Christensen who played Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader in the prequels and the last series also said he had high hopes for a second series.
He said: “If it means that I got to do more with Ewan, then that’s a no-brainer, but I really hope that he continues with the character. Just as a fan, it’s so exciting to get to watch him play Obi-Wan – he’s just so good at it.”
In a four-star review of Obi-Wan Kenobi, NME wrote: “Walking the line between nostalgia and novelty as well as shouldering the entire Skywalker saga, Obi-Wan Kenobi has one of the toughest jobs in the galaxy. As long as no-one tries to bring back Jar Jar Binks in the next few episodes, it might just pull it off.”