In addition to the new trailer for The Mandalorian, Disney+ confirmed that a new Star Wars series featuring Ewan McGregor reprising the role of a young Obi-Wan Kenobi is in the works.
The franchise made the announcement Friday at the D23 expo, where Star Wars producer Kathleen Kennedy told the audience, “We have all the scripts written, we’re ready to start shooting next year,” Variety reports.
A Star Wars film featuring McGregor returning to the Jedi role was previously rumored when the franchise announced a series of spinoff films that would pad out the new Star Wars trilogy. The project will instead land at the Disney+ streaming service, which also has The Mandalorian and a new season of The Clone Wars in the wings.
After Alec Guinness put his stamp on the beloved character, Number Nine on Rolling Stone‘s 50 Best Star Wars Characters of All Time list, in the original Star Wars trilogy, McGregor portrayed a young version of the young Jedi knight in the prequel films The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Return of the Sith. McGregor also provided a voice cameo during a scene in 2015’s The Force Awakens.
“Internally, we’ve wanted this for so long, but we know how much the fans want it too,” Kennedy told EW at D23. “[McGregor] wanted to come back, and he’s so excited to play the character of Obi-Wan again. 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.”
