Ewan McGregor Is Pleasantly Surprised That Some People Prefer The ‘Star Wars’ Prequels To The Originals

Shortly after the release of The Force Awakens, our own Mike Ryan theorized that the Star Wars prequels would someday be considered “cool.” That day is here. I don’t know when it happened, exactly, although it probably had to do with the polarizing reaction to The Last Jedi, which is either the best Star Wars movie since The Empire Strikes Back or the worst installment in the franchise (it’s the best). But admitting that you like The Phantom Menace is no longer met with this Han Solo face — it’s greeted with a “same.”

Ewan McGregor, who played Obi-Wan (“Kenobi!”) in The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith, spoke about this “Star Wars prequels are good, actually” phenomenon in an interview with Empire.

“Our films weren’t much liked when they came out by my generation who loved the first ones. I think people of our generation wanted to feel the way they’d felt when they saw those first three movies when they were kids, and George [Lucas] wanted to take our ones in a different direction, he had a different idea. It was tricky at the time, I remember,” he said. “But now, all these years later, I’m really aware of what our films meant to the generation they were made for, the children of that time. They really like them. I’ve met people who, they mean a lot to them, those films, more so than the original three, and I’m like, ‘Are you kidding’” I would never kid about my love for Watto.

McGregor will reprise his role as Young Ben in an Obi-Wan series coming to Disney+, which he called “a long time coming.” It’s not expected to start shooting until 2021, giving producers plenty of time to track down greasy diner owner Dexter Jettster for a cameo. Dexter Jettster Now that’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time. A long time.