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.   

As for whether Star Wars fans are finished, the answer has got to be a resounding no. News of Ewan McGregor’s return as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the upcoming Disney Plus series was met with huge amounts of excitement, and season 2 of The Mandalorian is eagerly awaited by many of us.

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.