Few Star Wars characters have a story as well-known or important as Obi-Wan Kenobi. The character, first introduced as an older Jedi in 1977’s Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope, is both a noteworthy mentor to Luke and Anakin Skywalker and a tragic figure due to the dissolution of his friendship with the latter. Thanks to Ewan McGregor and Alec Guinness’ dual, decades-spanning performances as the character, Obi-Wan’s story has been brought to life in almost its entirety over the years, too.
However, it turns out that Star Wars creator George Lucas originally had a very different idea for Obi-Wan Kenobi’s story. In an interview with StarWars.com, Iain McCaig, who worked as a behind-the-scenes artist on Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace, revealed that Lucas originally intended to swap the names of Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan Kenobi and Liam Neeson’s Qui-Gon Jinn in that film. “It’s interesting how things evolve,” McCaig commented. “For a time, the older Jedi was named Obi-Wan and the younger Jedi was named Qui-Gon.”
According to McCaig, Lucas’ original vision included McGregor’s character ultimately taking on his Jedi Master’s name as part of his attempt to honor his mission to train Anakin. “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,” McCaig revealed. “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.”
McCaig doesn’t offer any insight into why Lucas ended up abandoning this twist. While it would have added an extra layer to Obi-Wan’s introduction in A New Hope, it’s possible Lucas simply decided to opt for the more streamlined, straightforward version of the character’s story that actually made it into The Phantom Menace.
Regardless of Lucas’ overall reasoning, this revelation does offer some further insight into just how deeply the Star Wars creator thought not only about the Prequel Trilogy’s characters and story, but also its connections to the events of A New Hope, Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. All fans can do now is wonder how many other ideas like this Lucas might have had and abandoned while making his franchise’s first six films.
Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace is streaming now on Disney+.