Ewan McGregor’s return to Star Wars gives fans new hope

Every fandom has its dark corners, but Ewan McGregor returning as Obi-Wan Kenobi has restored some fans’ faith in the future of Star Wars.

It’s no secret that Star Wars: The Last Jedi sparked unprecedented wildfires across social media when it was first released. The trolls are loud, and almost two years later, they’re still shouting.

What many don’t realize is that this isn’t the first time the loud minority rose up to make their dislike of Star Wars known to the masses. When the prequels were the franchise’s newest films back in the early 2000s, Ahmed Best (Jar Jar Binks) received so much “fan hate” that he contemplated suicide.

Thankfully, he is now receiving standing ovations at conventions, as is Kelly Marie Tran, who reportedly quit social media after “fans” constantly harassed her for playing Rose Tico in The Last Jedi.

Plenty of fans forgot about the dark parts of the online Star Wars community Friday night, however, when Kathleen Kennedy and Ewan McGregor united onstage at D23 to announce the actor would be reprising his role from the prequel films in a Disney+ miniseries.

Watch the big reveal here:

The news that McGregor will return to Star Wars as Obi-Wan Kenobi came right after the debut for upcoming Disney+ series, The Mandalorian. The fandom was, to say the least, a bit overwhelmed. But for the first time in a long time — at least temporarily — members across the Star Wars community felt wholly united. If there’s one thing they could all agree on, it was that McGregor was finally returning home where he belonged.

It’s easy to forget that the same fandom likely would not have been this excited about a Kenobi-centric spin-off series even 10 years ago. McGregor was arguably one of the best parts of the prequels, but fans were still wary of the era. The Clone Wars was still finding its footing on Cartoon Network, and the future of Star Wars was mostly uncertain.

Things are different now. Ahmed Best is a celebrated member of the Star Wars family. The “hello there” meme is a staple across the interwebs. Fans’ attitudes toward the prequel films have changed significantly since The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones left many feeling let down.

The hostile will always remain hostile — they’ll just change their targets. But disappointed fans are finally coming around to accept that these films had their faults, but weren’t worth harassing innocent actors over. The fans are far enough past “prequel hate” to absolutely lose their minds over yet another Disney+ series featuring characters from the era in which those films took place.

This is the best proof the fandom has that the same thing will eventually happen with the sequel trilogy films. The same way fans still poke fun at Attack of the Clones, they’ll always roll their eyes at certain elements of The Last Jedi.

But the toxicity will fade. The trolls will move on to pour their hate into other Star Wars things. The content majority will finally be free to enjoy Star Wars as it was meant to be enjoyed — collectively with others who are just happily along for the ride.

What many discouraged members of the fandom needed most was to hear that, at the end of it all, the love for Star Wars as a whole would prevail. Shows like The Mandalorian and McGregor’s upcoming series are already restoring that hope, and they’re not even available for streaming yet.

It’s not just the rumored callbacks to older Star Wars films or even Ewan McGregor’s excitement that have left fans fully faithful. It’s the promise that there are people at Lucasfilm in charge who are listening — people who know Star Wars and know what fans crave most. People who are as enthusiastic about making sure Star Wars lives on as they are.

Haters gonna hate. Star Wars is here to stay. It will continue to evolve, as will its fans. But one thing’s for sure: The first time they hear McGregor say “hello there” on their small screens, millions of voices will cry out in delight.

Are you excited about the new Star Wars series coming to Disney+? Let us know in the comments below.