Qui-Gon Jinn, as many remember, died at the end of Phantom Menace, but as Obi-Wan showed us in the original trilogy, Jedi have the power to come back as spirits and in this case, young Obi-Wan’s mentor does just that. The reason? To make sure that Anakin is being trained and to warn his once apprentice that other’s see young Skywalker’s ability to fulfill the prophecy. The ghostly Jedi will make his appearance in two upcoming episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series on the Cartoon Network on January 28th and February 11th. But the biggest news is that he will be played by none other than Liam Neeson, who played Qui-Gon Jinn in the films.
While the original movie that served as the springboard for the series was able to get stars like Samuel L. Jackson (Mace Windu) and Christopher Lee (Count Dooku) from the trilogy, the series has not been so fortunate. So Liam Neeson is a big deal here because he is virtually the only one that has reprised their role, except of course, for the ever present Anthony Daniels as C3PO. And even though much criticism was hurled at Phantom Menace, making one wonder why a critically acclaimed actor who is really busy filming, with 6 films to be released over the next two years, now in some development, would want to take the time to bother. Neeson said it was because the characters resonate with the audience, and like when he was a kid with cowboys, kids these days see the series as magical and he wanted to be a part of that once again. Good for him.
While it’s certainly understandable that they don’t have the budget to get Ewan McGregor or Natalie Portman to play in the series full time as their roles, but it’s good to see that a guest appearance can stir up a big name and hopefully more will make an appearance.
Here is the preview of the episode with Qui-Gon Jinn in The Clone Wars...
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