Star Wars has been celebrating the 25th anniversary of the release of The Phantom Menace this year, and as part of that commemoration StarWars.com recently published an interview with Ian McCaig, a concept artist who helped bring the movie to life.
It’s a great read, but McCaig also revealed a pretty massive plot twist that was cut from the film, one that I don’t recall hearing before. McCaig revealed that for a while, George Lucas planned for the older Jedi (played by Liam Neeson) to be named Obi-Wan Kenobi and the younger Jedi (played by Ewan McGregor) to be named Qui-Gon Jinn. Then, at the end of the movie, as the real Obi-Wan was dying, Qui-Gon not only defeats the evil Sith, not only takes on his master’s new pupil, but also takes on his master’s name.
As McCaig explains, “Qui-Gon becomes Obi-Wan. 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.”
That would have been a pretty major reveal, up there with some of the other twists in the history of this franchise. But in the end, I’m glad that Lucas changed his mind. The relationship between Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan is perfect as it is, and I think it’s one of the strongest parts of the entire movie.
Both Neeson and McGregor have returned to the Star Wars franchise since then, playing the real Qui-Gon and the real Obi-Wan, respectively. McGregor reprised his role in Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith, and Obi-Wan Kenobi with voice cameos in The Force Awakens and The Rise of Skywalker, with Neeson returning for a voice role in The Clone Wars and The Rise of Skywalker and a live-action appearance in Obi-Wan Kenobi.
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