The next of the Star Wars Disney+ spin-offs has officially set its filming start date, according to lead actor Ewan McGregor (The Island). As Comic Book reported today, McGregor revealed in a virtual interview on The Graham Norton Show the series is set to begin filming in the spring.
The interview began with McGregor describing his excitement to return to the role and begin production on the, as-of-now, untitled series. As published in Comic Book, the actor then confirmed that “We start shooting it in March next year.” He also reiterated that the series will take place in the 20 years between Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: A New Hope, in which Kenobi is one of the last Jedi Knights in the galaxy.
Back in June, series director Deborah Chow (director of episodes 3 and 7 on The Mandalorian, Disney+’s first Star Wars spin-off) also confirmed the series was still in active development. The actor also took time to emphasize that he looks forward to working with Chow. McGregor said in quote from Comic Book that “I’m just excited about working with Deborah Chow, and the storylines are going to be really good I think. I’m just excited to play him again. It’s been long enough since I played him before.” He also added that “I’m more excited about doing this one than I was doing the second and third one that we did before,” referring to the second and third movies of the Star Wars prequel trilogy, Comic Book reported.
The actor also spoke on the newfound challenge the series will pose as he returns to his iconic role. McGregor himself much closer to the age of Alec Guinness (Bridge on the River Kwai), in addition to the character being older. “The fun thing about doing them in the first place, when I was much younger, was trying to imagine Alec Guinness and how he would play these streams as a younger guy…This time, I will be much closer in age to him and it will be my challenge to sort of meet him somewhere. It’s a great honor to try and pretend to be him,” Comic Book published.
The Obi-Wan Kenobi series will last for six episodes over the course of one season. No air date for the series has been announced. The films and series of the Star Wars galaxy, including The Mandalorian, its upcoming second season, and all future spin-offs such as the Kenobi show, are or will be available to stream on Disney+.