Kenobi : Ewan McGregor in potential Kenobi movie OR series

If Kenobi's life between ROTS and ANH doesn't have an interesting enough story to tell without bringing back Darth Maul from the dead then it's not a story worth telling.

Reincarnations in cartoons are one thing. Resurrecting Maul from the dead onscreen would be embarrassing.

Give the guy a new challenge and a different obstacle. Make Kenobi's exile story a different kind of SW film --slower, more introspective --or don't do it. Just do anything but Darth Maul. Beyond cheesy.

 

Too late. It's happened already.

 

Yeah, my bad. Should have said "big screen."

And I love Darth Maul as a character, for what it's worth. But it's been done. We've seen the rebirth of Maul and the rematch (many of them....) with Kenobi.

Very much hoping they make the Kenobi-in-exile movie new and different. There's hopefully more to the Kenobi character than endlessly squaring off and defeating the same guy infinite number of times.

If not, might as well bring back Count Dooku and General Grievous too. They could form an anti-Kenobi League of Resurrected Bad Guys. I mean, why not?

 

He's not dead at that time and that isn't what the story would be about. The point would be that he could be be part of an overall story that would be the catalyst for Obi-Wan to leave Tatooine much like Grievous was a reason for him to leave Coruscant in ROTS.
That doesn't mean it's going to be the entire story.

Well it's already happened now as he's in the Solo movie. Maul's actual resurrection was done in TCW so that is where that story will stay.

If there is slower introspection in one part of the movie with Qui-Gon and Yoda among others that will have to be balanced out with an action element of some sort. Maul is a great known quantity that creates iconic imagery and excitement for the general audience that does not watch the animation and doesn't know those stories.

 

It's still stupid.

 

That all depends on the story. It can be played many ways that give insight into many aspects of the Jedi purge which was never gone into in live action since that wasn't the story being told.

 

No, it really doesn't.

If the story includes Darth Maul on the big screen again, it doesn't matter how it's played or how many aspects it explores. It's bringing a character back onto the big screen that we've seen get cut in half and dropped down a bottomless pit.

It's beyond boring and lazy. It's embarrassing.

 

We'll have to disagree.

Again his return has already been done in animation and that won't be done in live-action. He'll just be there and if anyone wants to find out what happened they can do so. At least that story does exist (and was done by Lucas himself). Now if Lucas hadn't done it and it was up to this new Lucasfilm then I'd be troubled by it but since the story created by Lucas involves Mother Talzin, the Nightsisters etc then that's fine.

If what you're talking about is that for the general audience his return from being cut in half won't be addressed (because it's years later) then I get that but again that aspect can be quickly touched upon in the movie itself if they do that.

This is Star Wars operatic storytelling not sci-fi.

It might be nothing anyway though it does seem odd to bring him back for a cameo that doesn't set something up. Again I doubt he'd be the sole villain but a featured one that is used as a catalyst. More likely I see the main bad guy some surviving Jedi who wants to do some doomed revenge mission on Sidious that Obi-Wan wants to stop.

 

I think everyone fully understands that SW is space fantasy and not sci-fi.

But there's still always been a real-world believability about the GFFA. Getting chopped in half and falling down a bottomless pit is a death scene. It was intended to be a death scene. It was retconned when GL ran out of interesting ideas and needed to prop up a slouching cartoon series. That's fine...just leave it there. Please don't contaminate the films with it though....jeez.

And everything GL touched wasn't automatically a masterpiece work of genius. If that's your opinion, then yes, we'll agree to disagree. Other people can create iconic villains without all the baggage of Darth Maul.

And I don't think Maul would be the kind of smash hit with general audiences that some might think. It's been 20 years. And the vast majority of people who recognize him have seen his death scene.


"Oh, they brought that guy back from the dead huh? Meh."

 

It's also happened on the big screen...

 

I think they is plenty of back and forth at points. I've seen many an argument treating it as Sci-Fi which I get but it does work against the story at times when the fantasy element is forgotten. TLJ has a lot of SF as opposed to fantasy aspects for instance. There is obviously some back and forth within the movies though Lucas used SF but not forgetting it's fantasy.

I'd say more that it has it rules that Lucas set-out and it plays within them. So it's real world believeability is that worlds not our version.

GL never runs out of interesting ideas. He made that one of them. Lucas was propping the series up himself because he was paying unheard of money to make a TV series that he wanted to see. No one else would pay that money to make an animated series.

Well after the first two movies of the ST I'd say that they are contaminated anyway so this can do no harm. Again that is another thread.

No but the Star Wars movies were I'd say.

Well hasn't happened in Star Wars movies yet not done by Lucas I'd say so again I'd rather use Lucas characters over anything they would try certainly in movies set so specifically between Lucas movies. Now if they want to try in other eras not set between I-VI then fine go ahead but I'll take Maul in Kenobi 100 out of 100 compared to what I would fear what they would do. If you got Maul (and they do) then use him. Again I doubt he's THE bad guy (that is if they use him) anymore than Grievous was but he would be an obstacle. I'd be more concerned with them using Vader really since that would be really tricky. I see no great reason to have them meet between III and IV though it could be done.

Yet the Vader scene in R1 was just about the biggest thing in the movie and people had seen his death scene 33 years earlier.

 

A lot of what you state as unquestionable facts are just opinions.

Iconic villains have been created in the ST according to the new generation of SW fans who love Kylo Ren. It's odd that not everyone can at least recognize that even if they don't like the character.

And you're in an extreme minority of people who perceive the PT SW movies to be masterpieces. And that's fine if that's your opinion. Good for you.

For what it's worth, people didn't question Vader's scene in R1 because they realized it was a prequel....a time period before they knew that he died. Completely different than placing Maul in a time period *after* people literally saw him get cut in half and dropped down an enormous hole.

An accurate comparison would be seeing Vader appear in the flesh in the ST running some kind of crime syndicate and expecting everyone to be enthralled.

 

And @Qui-Riv-Brid, the odd thing about our discussion at this point is that I absolutely think Maul *is* an iconic villain without question. I think he's the best component of TPM along with the Nubian starship. He was a perfectly envisioned villain for the PT.

But again, he got deep-sixed in that movie by getting sliced in two and falling down an endless hole. That's a death.

It's not an "interesting idea" to resurrect him using magic after watching that scene. It's laziness mixed with desperation.

In my opinion.

 

I'm never quite sure why anyone ever points that out to be honest. I think that goes without saying.

Again if it is for them then great.

As I said "Well hasn't happened in Star Wars movies yet not done by Lucas I'd say"

Totally awesome for me. I get to see 6 of the greatest movies ever and some very entertaining ones that the new era has produced that while enjoyable are nowhere near the level of Lucas'

What's the difference really? I know people who had no idea when R1 was set and only found out when watching the movie. Clearly in this new era where the ST movies don't explain the most basic of basics and they are using an animated series to do so they are fine with doing that. In this case though the animated story of Maul's return was told first then the movie as opposed to the other way around they are doing for the First Order.

Only if they then later did an animated series explaining that. That would be something! I had to explain to people that R1 was set before the original trilogy of movies. Other than that I have no doubt a lot of people where wondering why Vader was back and where Rey, Ren and Luke were in the movie.

I know it seems incredible to us but many general audience members simply watch the movies once (or twice) then never again or very rarely. They'll remember Maul but forget he died or figure something else happened.

When people think of Star Wars what is in memory are non-human faces like the droids, Vader, Maul etc.

 

There are so many different ways they could go on this and all of them could work. When Freddie Prinze Jr. and Sam Witwer were on Collider Jedi Council over a year ago, they said that tons of writers had pitched ideas for Kenobi (a couple they know personally) and ALL of them sounded amazing.

I said that I wanted Solo to be "Tombstone, not Unforgiven." But for Kenobi, it's the opposite -- I absolutely want something closer to Unforgiven. That's why I'm happy with an unexpected choice like Stephen Daldry. I don't want a "badass" action film (though I'm sure there will be some fun sequences). I want a character-driven story about Obi-Wan finding himself again, rediscovering his inner hero.

Logan is the obvious recent comparison and not a bad one at that, though given the nature of our hero, I would expect more dry wit and humor in Kenobi.

 

He never stopped being one in the first place though. If one were to go down that kind of road then it would be more about his questioning of how he was going to keep his heroism going. Stay with the plan or be tempted to try something else?

He's watching Luke and knows of Leia being taken care of by Organa and talking to Qui-Gon and Yoda while learning to retain his identity in the Force. So he's got a lot going on.

 

I guess it depends on when it's set. In between ROTS and Rebels, I imagine he must have hit rock-bottom -- having to live with his crushing failure with Anakin and constantly looking over his shoulder whether someone is coming for him/Luke. It's not that he stopped caring; he just thought he was out of the hero game. I just want this movie to be emotionally-driven instead of a side-adventure. There needs to be some major internal conflict that shakes him to his core.

 

What if...Obi-wan tries to train Luke when he's little, and Luke turns against him. So Obi-wan retreats to his hut in the desert for a long time, and cuts himself off from the force. Then one day, Luke finds him.

 

Wouldn't that contradict Luke's ignorance of The Force in ANH? Also, while I'm not against child characters in SW, I think you're playing with fire if you make a little kid (under 12) a major character.

 

Sorry. Was a joke. I just rehashed some of Luke's arc from the ST.

 

My personal "elevator pitch"...

- It's 5-10 years after ROTS, Obi-Wan is a sad, regretful man who drinks too much (it's clear in AOTC and ANH that he knows his way around a drink). Every now and then, local toughs pick fights with him for kicks or to claim a bounty ("Aren't you that Jedi?"). Obi-Wan kicks their butts as he did in ANH, but he's losing hope amid the rise of the empire.

- One day, he gets jumped by a gang in the desert and is saved by a mysterious woman. She offers him a huge reward to save her brother/father, who was sold into slavery by the Hutts after not paying his debts. Obi-Wan needs money to help Owen and Beru, who are struggling to support themselves and a child they never asked for, so he takes the job. Adventure and romance ensues.

- At some point, we find out that the mysterious woman is planning to turn Obi-Wan in to collect a huge bounty on his head (being one of the last remaining Jedi). Eventually, she has a change of heart and saves him, but at the very end, she has to leave for fear of Imperial retribution. Maybe she's pregnant with a child he doesn't know about (cough, cough).

Just my nerd ramblings, but as of now, I'm hoping for something like that. Small-scale plot but big in emotional stakes.

 

Here's why I've wanted to see this movie since before the prequels.

I loved the hell out of Star Wars as a kid, and I knew that the Obi-Wan character was inspired by Toshiro Mifune and that a lot of the SW style was copped from Kurosawa, but I had no way of seeing those films.

Then I went to film school in the early '90s and saw them and I got the influences right away. The films -- Yojimbo and Sanjuro were the first ones I saw -- were flat-out awesome. You didn't need to know the larger picture of where the character came from. He was once part of something big and noble that went to hell. Now he's in some crappy backwater place and outwardly cynical, but when he sees people suffering, his old ethos kick in.

And I was all, oh, cool. I imagined this movie on the spot.

Whatever the faults of the prequels, Ewan created an Obi-Wan that can still stand up to the scenario I imagined.

Not seeing the downside. This should be a lore-light film. An almost literal remake of one of those Kurosawa films would suit me just fine. No Maul, no shoe-horned ST throw-forwards. Tatooine, people in trouble, unlikely and eccentric hero to the rescue. End of.

 

We could first begin by showing Ben’s day to day routine.
He then comes into contact with a criminal syndicate.
Ben discovers they’re headed by Maul, goes after him.
Maul eventually becomes stranded on Malachor.
Ben returns to Tattooine, resuming his day to day duties.

 

I'd lean into the Samurai/ western vibe.

But either way, one thing I'd love to see more of - especially with good writing and directing is conflict between Owen and Ben.

I'd love it if both have to work together at some point.