Lord of the Dance
Liam Neeson opens the door to Star Wars return
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Liam Neeson opens the door to Star Wars return

LIAM NEESON could be set to reprise his role as Qui-Gon Jinn in the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi spin-off TV series. 

Ewan McGregor is set to reprise his role as the character first made famous by Alec Guinness with Hayden Christensen also returning as Anakin Skywalker. 

Neeson starred as Obi-Wan's Jedi master Qui-Gon Jinn alongside the pair in 1999’s Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace and has voiced the character in several animated Star Wars projects. 

He even lent his vocal talents, albeit briefly, to the most recent film entry in the franchise, 2019’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. 

Although his character was killed off in Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace, the Ballymena-born actor is open to the idea of returning. 

Neeson to Collider he was unaware of any calls among fans for him to return to the franchise. 

"I'll be honest with you: I haven't heard that at all," he said. 

However, work on the Obi-Wan TV series remains at a very early stage and while no discussions have taken place yet, Neeson said he could be willing to make an appearance. 

"Sure, I'd be up for that, yeah," he said. 

The fact Qui-Gon Jinn met his demise at the hands of Darth Maul is unlikely to put anyone off. 

After all, plenty of characters have risen from the grave in the Star Wars universe, while there is also the possibility that Qui-Gon could appear as one of the franchise’s famous “Force Ghosts”. 

So far both Darth Maul and Darth Sidious have made surprise returns having seemingly met their end and similar could be on the cards of Obi-Wan's Jedi master. 

Given Neeson’s continued pull at the box office, few would be surprised to see the Northern Irishman return, despite his recent pledge to retire from action movies, citing his old age. 

Earlier this month, he told Entertainment Tonight: "I'm 68 and a half. 69 this year. There's a couple more I'm going to do this year - hopefully, Covid allowing us - there's a couple in the pipeline and, then I think that will probably be it. Well, unless I'm on a Zimmer frame or something."