As a seasoned cinephile who’s spent countless hours immersed in the galaxy far, far away, I find myself utterly bewildered by George Lucas‘ latest revelation about Obi-Wan Kenobi. The idea of swapping the identities of Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon Jinn is not just divisive but downright mind-boggling.
The Star Wars saga is now brimming with controversial and divisive storytelling decisions, but this latest revelation may be the most divisive of them all. Regarding Jedi master Obi-Wan Kenobi, longtime Star Wars concept and storyboard artist Iain McCaig has revealed that the beloved character was almost given a – frankly baffling – twist by in the already exceedingly divisive prequel Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.
According to McCaig’s conversation with StarWars.com, George Lucas initially intended for the character portrayed by Alec Guinness in the original trilogy (and Ewan McGregor in the prequels) to be Qui-Gon Jinn instead of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Intriguingly, Lucas had planned for Liam Neeson’s older Jedi Knight character to be Obi-Wan, with Qui-Gon taking on the identity of his master after being killed by the wicked Darth Maul.
In the past, two Jedi were known as Older Jedi, Obi-Wan, and Younger Jedi, Qui-Gon. It was a moving moment when the older one, Obi-Wan, died, while the younger, Qui-Gon, defeated Darth Maul and stayed with his Master till the end. Not just accepting his Master’s mission, but also adopting his name, Qui-Gon transformed into Obi-Wan.
In the movie ‘A New Hope,’ Alec Guinness initially keeps his hood up and says, “Obi-Wan? That’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time,” because his character is actually supposed to be Qui-Gon Jinn, not Obi-Wan Kenobi. George Lucas later corrected this error at the end of the film.
What Exactly Was George Lucas Smokin’?
George Lucas is widely acclaimed for crafting an epic science fiction saga like no other, Star Wars. Yet, it’s also common knowledge that he occasionally comes up with some questionable ideas. To begin with, Han Solo was initially envisioned as a green-skinned frog creature before transforming into the suave, roguish character we recognize today. The concept of midi-chlorians is another topic best left unmentioned. However, the switch in Obi-Wan Kenobi’s identity is undoubtedly the most perplexing aspect among these unusual ideas.
It appears to be completely superfluous and lacks coherence; it proposes changing the character initially presented in “Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope” for the sake of altering a dialogue line that is already effective. Since Obi-Wan hasn’t used that name for a long time, living in seclusion as a hermit and adopting the alias Old Ben, it raises the question of why such changes are needed when the original portrayal is satisfactory.
Initially, it might have seemed that Qui-Gon Jinn was trying to pay tribute to his master instead of stealing an identity, but for many “Star Wars” fans, this could appear superfluous, piling on more lore where it’s not needed. Fortunately, George Lucas recognized the mistake and preserved Obi-Wan Kenobi free from such intricacies, something that unfortunately can’t be said about the entire “Star Wars” universe, which is presently grappling with a creative predicament.
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2024-11-01 16:32