Star Wars TV spin-off for Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi is confirmed

Update – August 23, 2019: Ewan McGregor is officially returning to the Star Wars universe.

The actor will reprise his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi from George Lucas's prequel trilogy for his own streaming series on Disney+. All of the scripts have already been written.

Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy made this massive announcement during the company's presentation at the D23 Expo on Friday (August 23), along with confirming that production will begin on the Obi-Wan series next year.

Also during its D23 presentation, Kennedy unveiled the first-look footage for the long-awaited live-action Star Wars series The Mandalorian.

Disney+ launches on November 12 in the US — but unfortunately there's no launch date yet in the UK.

Related: The Last Jedi's Rian Johnson teases "the next step" of Star Wars in his new trilogy

Original: Disney isn't kidding around about expanding the Star Wars universe, as it looks like a third TV series is heading to the new Disney+ streaming service.

Following The Mandalorian and a Rogue One spin-off centring on Diego Luna's Cassian Andor, Ewan McGregor is apparently next in line for his very own show about the iconic Obi-Wan Kenobi.

No other casting or plot details have emerged just yet, but according to Deadline, McGregor is in serious talks for the project.

The actor has played the Jedi Knight in three Star Wars movies – prequel trilogy The Phantom Menace (1999), Attack of the Clones (2002) and Revenge of the Sith (2005) – and also made a voice-only cameo as the character in 2015's The Force Awakens.

We earn a commission for products purchased through some links in this article.

Alec Guinness starred as Obi-Wan in the original trilogy, when he was a mentor to Luke Skywalker and introduced him to the ways of the Jedi.

In McGregor's prequels, set decades earlier, he is a teacher and friend to Luke's father Anakin, who eventually falls to the dark side of the Force and becomes Darth Vader.

It seems talk over the years about a standalone Obi-Wan movie has ultimately resulted in this series on Disney+. Reports have suggested that the box-office disappointment of Solo: A Star Wars Story pushed the studio away from any Obi-Wan film.

This would be McGregor's second major TV role after winning a Golden Globe for starring in the third season of Fargo.

The first Star Wars series on Disney+, The Mandalorian, will drop on November 12 – the day the streaming service launches.

Disney+ Sign up for Disney+

Shop at Disney+

Disney/Lucasfilm Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

£3 at Amazon

Disney/Lucasfilm Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga Complete Box Set [Blu-ray] [2019] [Region Free]

£80 at Amazon

Century Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (Expanded Edition) by Rae Carson

£20 at Amazon

Disney/Lucasfilm Star Wars - The Complete Saga (Episodes I-VI) [Blu-ray] [1977] [Region Free]

£73 at Amazon

Disney/Lucasfilm Star Wars: The Original Trilogy (Episodes IV-VI) [Blu-ray] [1977] [Region Free]

£25 at Amazon

Disney/Lucasfilm Star Wars: The Force Awakens [Blu-ray] [2015] [Region Free]

£6 at Amazon

Disney/Lucasfilm Star Wars: The Last Jedi [4K UHD] [Blu-ray] [2017]

Now 10% Off

£9 at Amazon

Disney/Lucasfilm Rogue One: A Star Wars Story [Blu-ray] [2017] [Region Free]

£8 at Amazon

Disney/Lucasfilm Solo: A Star Wars Story [4K] [Blu-ray] [2018] [Region Free]

£20 at Amazon

Want up-to-the-minute entertainment news and features? Just hit 'Like' on our Digital Spy Facebook page and 'Follow' on our @digitalspy Instagram and Twitter account.

Adam Silverstein

Adam Silverstein is a freelance sub-editor and writer at Digital Spy, and he specialises in music, TV and movies.

Justin Harp

Night News Editor

Justin has been with Digital Spy since 2010, and in that time, has covered countless major news events for DS from the US. 

He has worked previously as both a reporter and sub editor for the brand, prior to taking on the position of Night News Editor in 2016. 

Over more than a decade, he has interviewed a wide-ranging group of public figures, from comedian Steve Coogan to icons from the Star Trek universe, cast members from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and reality stars from numerous Real Housewives cities and the Below Deck franchise. As a US contributor to Digital Spy, Justin has also been on the ground to cover major pop culture events like the Star Wars Celebration and the D23 Expo.