Ever since the completion of George Lucas' prequel trilogy, Star Wars fans have craved a film or television show focused on Obi-Wan Kenobi, as portrayed by Ewan McGregor. When the upcoming Disney+ series was announced, it seemed that those fans would get their wish. Recently, however, news about a delay started to circulate, with some going so far as to claim that the Obi-Wan series has been put on hold indefinitely.
McGregor has refuted all of these claims, stating that it's all been blown out of proportion. In an interview with ComicBook.com, the actor explained "It just slipped to next year, that's all." He added, "They felt like they wanted more time to write the episodes."
The award-winning actor then provided assurances that this was not an issue that should concern fans, as it happens regularly in the industry. "Instead of shooting this August, they just want to start shooting in January, that's all," McGregor said, "It's nothing more dramatic than that. It often happens in projects, they just wanted to push it to next year."
To be clear, production is now scheduled to begin in January 2021. While that may seem like a lengthy delay, according to the actor, it will not affect the actual release date of the long-awaited Star Wars series. "They're still shooting towards having the [series] released when it was going to originally release." It is worth noting that that release date was never announced.
When asked about other rumored issues, namely the shortening of the series from six episodes to just four, McGregor simply denied it and said, "I haven't heard that."
The upcoming series was announced at D23 2019, where Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and McGregor revealed that the actor would be reprising his role as Obi-Wan. The live-action series will reportedly take place within the 19 years between the events of Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. Details beyond that have yet to be announced.
Directed by Deborah Chow and starring Ewan McGregor, the Obi-Wan Kenobi series is currently in development for Disney+.