'He's still got hope in him': Ewan McGregor revisits his 'Star Wars' Jedi master in 'Obi-Wan Kenobi'

To prepare for his long-awaited “Star Wars” return, Ewan McGregor did what many fans over the years have done: He binge-watched all of the franchise movies. And no Jedi mind tricks were required for this galactic marathon.

McGregor finished up his work as Jedi master Obi-Wan Kenobi in 2005's “Episode III – Revenge of the Sith” and “pretty much felt like that was my lot,” the Scottish actor says, since when we next meet Obi-Wan in the "Star Wars" timeline, he's played by Alec Guinness in the original 1977 movie.

But when McGregor committed to put the robe back on for the Disney+ series “Obi-Wan Kenobi” (first two episodes streaming now, then weekly on Wednesdays), he hunkered down for a rewatch of his 1999 “Star Wars” debut, “Episode I – The Phantom Menace.” Then he tore through the rest of the entire nine-film Skywalker Saga, plus the “Rogue One” and “Solo” spinoffs.

“I didn't do it in one day, although that might be fun,” he says, laughing.

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Directed by Deborah Chow (“The Mandalorian”), “Kenobi” catches up with Obi-Wan 10 years after the events of “Sith,” which ended with the creation of the Empire, the execution of Order 66 (which called for the annihilation of all Jedi) and Obi-Wan’s partner Anakin Skywalker's (Hayden Christensen) transformation into Darth Vader. Kenobi now watches over Anakin’s son, Luke, to make sure he’s safe from his father and the Empire – although the boy’s Uncle Owen (Joel Edgerton) doesn’t love Obi-Wan’s continued presence – while evil Inquisitors continue to hunt down scattered Jedi.

As the show starts, the galaxy is in “quite a dark time period, where the Empire's fully ascendant," Chow says.

Obi-Wan’s in “a very different place” mentally than the self-assured warrior from Lucas’ prequels, McGregor adds: “All of that is destroyed and cut down. So we find him in hiding and living a very sort of solitary life.” He’s also “not living with the Force,” so pre-breakfast lightsaber drills aren't part of his daily regimen.

“Sometimes, it feels like he's accepted that it's over, that the Jedi Order is done and that the war was lost,” McGregor says. “And other times, I feel like he's still got hope in him,” as Guinness’ wise Zen version of the character in the first “Star Wars” film (aka “A New Hope”) does when meeting Mark Hamill’s Luke for the first time: “He immediately starts talking to Luke, he gets the lightsaber out, and he's talking about the old ways of the Jedi. So there's obviously something still living in him, which I had to consider.”

Chow feels McGregor, 51, is “at the exact right moment in his life” to revisit Obi-Wan: “There's a real sort of organic unity to Ewan and this character. He just is Obi-Wan Kenobi for me.”

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McGregor’s hero visits worlds other than Tatooine in the series – “He's just going to watch over Luke the entire time? That would get old pretty fast,” Chow says – but also contends with the ruthless Imperial Inquisitors. There’s the Grand Inquisitor (Rupert Friend) and Fifth Brother (Sung Kang) – both appeared first in the “Star Wars Rebels” animated series – as well as newcomer Reva (Moses Ingram), whom Chow describes as “a young, ambitious, very talented, Dark Side character.” (Their constant threat has led to a makeover in Obi-Wan’s wardrobe, McGregor says: “He has to keep hidden so he's not knocking around in his old Jedi gear.”)

The worst one of them all, though, is the Inquisitors’ boss. Like his old master, Christensen’s armored and masked menace Vader also returns in “Kenobi.”  Obi-Wan and the man formerly known as Anakin had a duel on the fiery planet of Mustafar in “Sith” that left Skywalker charred and mutilated – Obi-Wan left him for dead – and the two have their iconic rematch in the first “Star Wars” film.

“He's not quite the ‘New Hope’ Vader, and yet he's not Anakin anymore,” Chow says of the iconic villain.

Fans will have to wait to see whether they face each other again in “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” but even after Anakin’s ultimate betrayal, McGregor says his character still cares for his former apprentice:

 “Obi-Wan loves Anakin, and he was his brother. It weighs so heavily on him that he lost him to the Dark Side and grieves for him, but at the same time he feels a sense of responsibility for that, and therefore a guilt that he didn't stop it from happening.

“It's quite complicated and quite heavy what he's carrying in terms of his feelings for Anakin.”

How to watch:‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ gets a new release date: Watch the latest trailer