Characters from past “Star Wars” iterations also tend to return to the franchise, even if they need the help of some facial CGI. Neeson is no exception, as he made a brief cameo in the “Obi-Wan Kenobi” series. The actor has said, however, that he’s not very interested in making another return to a galaxy far, far away. Speaking on Andy Cohen’s “Watch What Happens Live!” with Paul Rudd, Neeson said that the overabundance of spin-offs is “diluting” “Star Wars” for him, and that “it’s taken away the mystery and the magic in a weird way.”
It’s not that Neeson isn’t a “Star Wars” fan. He’s also said on the show that he’s “proud to have been a part of it,” referring to the critically panned “The Phantom Menace.” In addition, he also explained to The Hollywood Reporter last year that he returned as Qui-Gon because he “didn’t want anyone else playing” the character, and that he wanted to pay “respect for George [Lucas] and that mythical world that he created.”
It’s not that Neeson is a grouch, either. He clearly has a reverence for the franchise. It’s just that his fandom is rooted in the pre-Disney days of Lucas’ “Star Wars,” a sentiment that may ring true for those who feel fatigued from the content overload of the streaming era. While there have always been novelizations, comic books, and video games that have expanded on the world of “Star Wars” since Lucasfilm was its own entity, they were supplementary material that didn’t hinder understanding events in the films. Now that “Star Wars” has truly become what feels like an entire galaxy (far, far away), it’s easy to get lost in its vastness of content.