After a decade-long hiatus, Star Wars fans have already been treated to unforgettable new chapters in the mythology with Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The hype has begun to build for this December’s The Last Jedi, so it’s easy to forget that this is only the beginning of the plans for Lucasfilm and Disney.
It was revealed earlier today that the studio still has spin-off films based on Yoda and Boba Fett in development. The long-gestating movies have been in developmental hell for years, with the Boba Fett film infamously losing its director, Josh Trank, following the Fantastic Four fiasco. The Yoda movie has been rumored for years, but was seemingly dormant in recent times with other projects taking precedent. On paper it seems that centering a movie around the Jedi master would be foolhardy, particularly when you consider that Yoda speaks solely in riddles. (Although you could easily convince me to watch a two-hour movie of “Seagulls.”)
Today, THR has uncovered that there are even more plans in the works for perhaps the most anticipated of all the spin-offs. Director Stephen Daltry (The Hours, Billy Elliot) is in talks to bring to life one of the most iconic heroes in all of Star Wars lore with the Obi-Wan Kenobi spin-off. The Academy Award nominated director has made his name with more serious fare, so it seems that fans could get a more detailed character study, than a straight-forward action adventure. It also should be noted that while Daltry has being pursued in a dual role, he will still be supported by a collection of Lucasfilm writers and story hounds to maintain quality control and continuity.
Ewan McGregor portrayed Obi-Wan as a youth in the original prequel trilogy, as well as voicing the character in The Force Awakens in more recent times. Since the announcement of the spin-off films, the accomplished actor has unabashedly campaigned for his own spin-off adventure, but has yet to be officially announced in the lead role. The actor was probably the most universally loved character in the maligned prequel trilogy and is a unquestioned fan favorite, so his own movie seems like a no-brainer.
There are new stories every week that add to the Star Wars canon in the form of video games, comics, and movies. However, the years that Obi-Wan spent on Tatooine are a literal sandbox for the writers to create in. On first inspection it would seem that Obi-Wan’s isolation will serve as a constraint for the storytellers, as he spent a majority of his time there between Episode III and IV. So we will see what kind of surprises they have for audiences.
There is also a slimmer possibility that the story could be set in the time before The Phantom Menace. This could explore Obi-Wan’s own training and would allow for the return of Qui-Gon Jin actor Liam Neeson. With the advent of facial de-aging technology, the actors could explore their character’s younger years and provide the origin story for their mentor-trainee relationship before meeting Anakin. However, the story everyone wants to see is the time Obi-Wan spent as the silent protector of an unknowing Luke Skywalker in his youth on Tatooine.
There will surely be a lot more to chew on and speculate about. There’s an open slot in 2020 and it seems that the Obi-Wan film has first dibs on the release date, however there are dark horse candidates in the aforementioned Yoda and Boba Fett projects. Get ready for a lot more action from that galaxy far, far away.
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Source: THR via ScreenRant