Disney confirms Obi-Wan Kenobi series, reveals new details

It’s official: Ewan McGregor is going to bring balance to Disney+.

The Obi-Wan Kenobi TV series was confirmed Friday at the D23 Expo in Anaheim — along with some new details.

Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy told Expo audiences that the scripts are written for the series and it will begin filming next year.

Kennedy stopped by the People-EW video studio after the panel to discuss more details of the project. “Internally, we’ve wanted this for so long, but we know how much the fans want it too,” she said. “And we know we have to get it right.”

McGregor “wanted to come back, and he’s so excited to play the character of Obi-Wan again,” Kennedy shared. “He really does embody who Obi-Wan is. And to think that Alec Guinness was really his mentor and now he’s stepping into those shoes for this series, it’s really exciting.”

The iconic Jedi Knight role of Obi-Wan Kenobi was established by Guinness in 1977’s Star Wars, then picked up by McGregor in 1999’s The Phantom Menace McGregor played the wise wizard across two more films (2002’s Attack of the Clones and 2005’s Revenge of the Sith, plus had a voice cameo in 2015’s The Force Awakens.)

The project represents the latest live-action Star Wars series confirmed for the streaming service. First up is Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian coming Nov. 12 starring Pedro Pascal as a lone gunfighter in a remote corner of the galaxy. There’s also a series starring Diego Luna reprising his Rogue One role as Cassian Andor in the works (Alan Tudyk’s scene-stealing droid K-2SO is also onboard).

McGregor has said for years he’d be open to returning the Star Wars role. Next up for the actor is The Shining sequel Doctor Sleep from director Mike Flanagan based on the bestseller by Stephen King with McGregor tackling the role of grown-up Danny Torrence. The film opens Nov. 8.

Related content:

• All the movies and TV shows coming to Disney+
• Ewan McGregor on returning as Obi-Wan: ‘I’d be happy to play him again’
• Here are all the Star Wars projects coming in 2019