Ewan McGregor Explains Why Yoda Doesn’t Appear in ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’
[Editor’s Note: The following story contains spoilers for “Obi-Wan Kenobi.”]
“Obi-Wan Kenobi” has wrapped its run on Disney+, delivering plenty of well-received nostalgia and some redemption for George Lucas’ prequel trilogy. But following the limited series’ conclusion, which saw a fan-favorite cameo from Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn many fans had a question: Where was Yoda?
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The two Jedis had a close relationship in both the original and prequel trilogies, so the iconic character’s absence was curious to some. In a new interview with “The Jess Cagle Show” (via ComicBook.com) McGregor explained why the stakes of “Obi-Wan Kenobi” made it impossible to work Yoda into the story.
“All he’s got left is to look after Luke Skywalker. That’s all he’s got left, really, and to try to communicate with his old master, Qui-Gon, in his spiritual life,” McGregor said. “But he can’t reach out to any of his old [mentors]. He can’t reach out to Yoda, he can’t reach out to any of the surviving Jedi for fear of giving himself away. If a Jedi uses the Force in this period of time, the Inquisitors are going to be able to sense that, and they’re going to know where you are. It’s like using your phone or something, I guess. It’ll ping off a tower somewhere if you use the Force.”
While Obi-Wan was not able to rendezvous with Yoda in the Disney+ limited series, perhaps the two characters could meet in another season of the show. “Obi-Wan Kenobi” was conceived as a one-off, six-part series, but its stars have recently expressed their interest in making another season.
“I really hope we do another,” McGregor recently said to British GQ. “If I could do one of these every now and again — I’d just be happy about it.”
Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy also weighed in on the subject recently, saying that while no future installments are planned, she is not entirely opposed to the idea either.
“We did set out to do that as a limited series,” Kennedy said. “But I think if there’s huge engagement and people really want more Obi-Wan, we’ll certainly give that consideration because the fans, they speak to us. And if we feel like, ‘OK, there’s a real reason to do this; it’s answering the why then,’ then we’ll do it.”
All episodes of “Obi-Wan Kenobi” are currently streaming on Disney+.
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