Liam Neeson says he hasn’t been asked back for Star Wars

Liam Neeson, who played wise Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn back in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, revealed to Collider that he hasn’t been asked back to reprise his role.

“I’ve done the voice for Qui-Gon Jinn in a couple of the animated versions of it,” Neeson said. “I can’t remember the names of them. Myself and Sam Jackson did our Jedi knights for those. I think I did two of them. But on film, I haven’t been approached, no.”

Not only that, Neeson added that he hasn’t been keeping up to date on the goings on in the galaxy: “I haven’t really been following them, to be honest. I don’t know if they’ve come to an end. I heard they did a film of Harrison [Ford]’s character, Han Solo, and that there was a bit of trouble with that. What do you think? Are Star Wars fans finished with it?”

The ‘trouble’ with Solo: A Star Wars Story that Neeson is referring to is probably that the movie switched directors half-way through, with Ron Howard replacing Chris Miller and Phil Lord on the project.

Neeson’s comments suggest that it’s unlikely that we’ll see him in the Obi-Wan series, although Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith revealed that Qui-Gon lived on after death through the Force. In fact, we heard Neeson’s Qui-Gon talking to Rey at the end of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – along with several other Jedi, including Obi-Wan, Anakin Skywalker, and Mace Windu.

Whether Qui-Gon ever pops up in the Star Wars universe again (perhaps as a Force Ghost) remains to be seen, though we notice Neeson didn’t say he’d never return – only that he hasn’t been approached. For now, you can check out our roundup of every new Star Wars movie and TV show confirmed so far.

I'm the Deputy Entertainment Editor here at GamesRadar+, covering all things film and TV for the site's Total Film and SFX sections. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English.