Star Wars: Another Classic Character May Get His Own Standalone Movie

That's a name I've not heard in a long time...

By Brent McKnight | Updated

This article is more than 2 years old

star warsI hope you’re ready for a serious Star Wars infusion, because like it or not, you’re going to get one. After buying out Lucasfilm, Disney has a definite plan for the franchise, which includes the animated series Star Wars Rebels, films like J.J. Abrams’ upcoming Star Wars: Episode VII, and even a handful of standalone movies that will focus on already existing characters. Fan favorites Boba Fett and Han Solo are supposedly going to be the first up in this last category, but you can add one more name to that list, because the latest reports say that Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi is going to get his own movie as well.

According to the fan site Making Star Wars, they’ve heard from their sources that the venerable Jedi Knight, and mentor to both Luke Skywalker and his father Anakin (that one didn’t go so hot) could be up for his own movie. This is, of course, totally unverified at this point, so who knows if might actually happen, but if this report is true, it’s at least a strong possibility.

Here’s what they say:

I’ve heard from quite a few people now that an Obi-Wan Kenobi movie is in the works. For the spin-off movies they were initially going to stay away from any Jedi or Sith characters. But I’m hearing now that because of the popularity of Obi-Wan (fans recently voting for him on the official website etc) that an art team is now working with a writer on concepts for an Obi-Wan movie.

On the official Star Wars website, StarWars.com, Obi-Wan did just survive head-to-head tournament where characters were seeded and pitted against each other one on one in a bracket where fans could vote for the winner of each individual match, emerging as the newly crowned “most popular Star Wars character.

mcgregor-obi-wan-kenobiA while back, Ewan McGregor was asked if he was interested in reprising the role, and he said:

I think it’s a good idea. The only bit that I could get away with doing is after the last one I made, Episode III, before Alec Guinness [played Obi-Wan in the original films], there’s that period where he’s in the desert.

That might be my window, there, to tell that story. I don’t know what he did in the desert. We could make up some stuff. Could be quite exciting. I’d be up for it, for sure, of course.

That does bring up some interesting ideas. You could almost do a pseudo-western, with Obi-Wan a kind of stoic badass gunslinger wandering the desert frontier of Tatooine, setting things right, like Caine in Kung Fu. If they do something like that, it could prove to be a nice addition to the canon.

Despite that, though, I’m not too amped on the idea of Obi-Wan getting his own movie. In reality, he’s already been around a lot, playing a big part in the prequels, as well as A New Hope and beyond (we’ve even already seen him pop up in the promotion for Rebels). He’s a great character, and it could be interesting to maybe see what he gets up to in the gap between Episode III and Episode IV, but I’m not sure I need to follow him around for an entire movie. I can’t help but think there are other, less known characters or avenues to explore.

Boba FettA Boba Fett movie could provide a different perspective on the Star Wars universe, following a less heroic character, one without an eye on saving the entire galaxy. And though Han has been around, and will continue to be present in Episode VII, we don’t know a ton about his earlier days, but what we do know assures us that there sure to be lots of crazy adventures and things that could make for a kickass movie. I’m just not as sold on the idea of a solo Obi-Wan movie.

What do you think? Would you like to see Obi-Wan get his own movie? Or do you think that’s a bad idea? What character would you most like to see in a standalone adventure?