Obi-Wan Kenobi star Ewan McGregor defends the much-maligned Star Wars prequels and explains how his relationship with them has changed. The Scottish actor played a younger version of Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Jedi master originally played by Alec Guinness, in the three prequels to the original Star Wars trilogy, 1999's The Phantom Menace, 2002's Attack of the Clones, and 2005's Revenge of the Sith. Although the films were huge box office successes, they were generally critically maligned at the time. Although there has been somewhat of a critical appraisal since they came out, the only film to have a fresh score from both critics and fans on Rotten Tomatoes is Revenge of the Sith, which is the darkest and most action-packed of the prequel trilogy.
McGregor has stayed away from the franchise since then, but he will be reprising the role soon in the live-action spinoff series Obi-Wan Kenobi, which is premiering on Disney+ on May 27, 2022. The show will bridge the gap between the prequels and the original trilogy, following Obi-Wan's adventures after he takes up residence on Tatooine to watch over and protect Anakin Skywalker's young son Luke. The cast of the series also includes Joel Edgerton and Bonnie Piesse as Luke's caretakers Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, Moses Ingram as Reva the Third Sister, and Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker, the young Padawan who embraced the dark side and grew up to become the Sith Lord Darth Vader. Much of the excitement for Obi-Wan Kenobi has to do with the prequel trilogy being seen in a much more positive light in recent years.
On Twitter, user keldorjedii posted a video of an interview with McGregor, Ingram, and Christensen at the premiere of Obi-Wan Kenobi. During the conversation, the young interviewer expressed his appreciation for the prequel films, leading McGregor to share his thoughts about how his relationship with the Star Wars films has changed. He admits that it was "tough" to put so much passion into making the films and have them be critically panned, but he has come to appreciate them more - especially Episode III, which he says is "a really good movie" - now that the generation of children that loved them has grown up and been able to express that love. Read his full quote below:
You were a kid when our films came out. We sort of made them for you, and it was an off experience to make those movies. When you step into this world, it’s a big deal. It’s scary. Those films were critically not liked very much…
What we didn’t hear at the time was people your age, your generation. Those people now really love our films, but it’s taken us 15 years to hear that. It’s really nice, it’s changed… my relationship with Star Wars, it’s different because of that I think. We really put our heart and soul into them, and they were difficult to make. There was so much green screen and blue screen, because George was pushing into this new realm that he had designed, that he was responsible for. He wanted to max out that technology, but that meant for us that we were very much on blue screens and green screens, and it was hard work.
To do that and be passionate about it and then for the films to be not very well received was really tough. So it’s really lovely to have that new relationship with them now. I hadn’t seen them since they came out. In preparation for this show, to watch them again was pretty cool. I like them, episode 3 was a really good movie.
McGregor's argument certainly holds weight. Although the Star Wars films are designed to appeal to general audiences, their core demographic is young people. By the time the prequels were released, the kids who enjoyed the original trilogy were a decade and a half older and no longer in the right frame of mind to receive what George Lucas was delivering. Some of those kids who loved the prequels experienced the exact same thing when the Force Awakens sequel trilogy began in 2015.
Art is subjective and nobody's opinion on the prequels necessarily has to change. However, taking McGregor's comments into mind while rewatching the prequels to prep for Obi-Wan Kenobi might be the very best way to approach them. The films clearly managed to capture the imaginations of a generation of children, and that is likely where McGregor's newest performance is aimed as well.
Source: keldorjedii/Twitter
