Liam Neeson is reprising his role as Qui-Gon Jinn on the Cartoon Network’s January 18 and February 11 episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Neeson (and Qui-Gon for that matter) has not appeared in any Star Wars films or cartoons since “The Phantom Menace,” and his return is a surprising boon to the series. He will be appearing in spectral form to offer guidance to Obi-Wan Kenobi during a three-part story arc focusing on Anakin Skywalker’s role as the Chosen One to bring balance to the Force.
Neeson tells EW he wanted to return to Star Wars because he felt that “these characters resonate…even after all these years.” He adds, “Growing up, my heroes were cowboys; they were strong and mysterious, and it seemed like they always rode off into the sunset. For kids today, Star Wars has that same kind of magic. I really wanted to be a part of that.”
Before all of the “George Lucas raped my childhood” anti-prequel backlash hits, I want to say that of the three sequels, Phantom Menace is my favorite. It FEELS like Star Wars, where the other two never really do. I loved Qui-Gon, and felt that Neeson’s performance was actually filled with a great deal of depth given Lucas’ neutering of his performance through poor directing. I’m not a big fan of the Clone Wars cartoon (I loved Genndy Tartakovsky’s hand drawn Clone Wars cartoons, but never got aboard the CGI stuff), but I’ll be watching this story arc just for the moments with Jedi Master Jinn. Anyone else be tuning in who might not otherwise?
