As if George Lucas‘ 1999 Star Wars prequel wasn’t divisive enough, The Phantom Menace nearly ended on a complicated twist.
Marking the 25th anniversary of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, concept and storyboard artist Iain McCaig recently revealed an exchange between Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and his mentor Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) that Lucas ultimately cut at the last minute.
“It’s interesting how things evolve. For a time, the older Jedi was named Obi-Wan and the younger Jedi was named Qui-Gon,” McCaig told StarWars.com. “It was very poignant that at the end, as Obi-Wan dies and Qui-Gon defeats Darth Maul and stays with his Master as he passes away, he not only takes on his Master’s quest, but he takes on his name. Qui-Gon becomes Obi-Wan.”
He continued, “That’s why when you see Alec Guinness in A New Hope, he puts his hood down and goes, ‘Obi-Wan? Now that’s a name I’ve not heard….’ Because he’s not Obi-Wan, he’s Qui-Gon. And right at the end, George changed it.”
Although the switch-up would have ended on a more shocking reveal, it ultimately would have yielded the same outcome, with McGregor’s Obi-Wan going on to train Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd, Hayden Christensen), and ultimately his son Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) in the original trilogy.
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After portraying Obi-Wan in The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) and Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005), McGregor reprised the role in the 2022 Disney+ limited series Obi-Wan Kenobi, set 10 years after the trilogy concluded.
Last month, McGregor said at LA Comic-Con that Disney and Lucasfilm are “exploring” ideas for another season. “Obviously, between the end of the Obi-Wan Kenobi series and when Alec Guinness is Obi-Wan Kenobi, there’s got to be another few stories in there,” he said.