Out promoting his new film “The Marksman,” actor Liam Neeson, best-known for his roles in the Taken movies, weighed in on the appeal of the Star Wars franchise and shared his thoughts on whether he would be interested in returning to a galaxy far, far away…

In a video interview with Collider, Neeson was asked whether he would revisit his role as the Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn after playing the Jedi Master in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace; the actor was optimistic with his answer.

“Sure, I’d like to” [play him again]

Is there any chance that Liam Neeson will once again play the swashbuckling Qui-Gon in a Star Wars film or one of the upcoming Disney+ series? It’s highly likely. Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni are creating some of the best Star Wars content we’ve had in a long time. The franchise is off into a brand new direction that is hip, modern, and extremely entertaining. Some fans are even calling for Disney and Lucasfilm to give The Mandalorian creator and his galactic compadre Dave Filoni the “keys to the franchise.” 

Over the next few years, Disney plans to premiere an armada of “Star Wars” live-action and animated series directly on Disney+, plus two new theatrical films directed by Taika Waititi and Patty Jenkins. So if the once Oscar-nominated Neeson wants to make a return to Star Wars, there will be an over-abundance of opportunities.

Neeson also spoke about whether Disney was moving the Star Wars franchise away from the cinema.

“I’m sort of wondering, is ‘Star Wars’ starting to fade away from the cinema landscape? Do we think?”

Coverage from other news outlets appears to offer a negative slant on the topic. Several of them stated that “Neeson thinks ‘Star Wars’ is starting to fade away.” or “Neeson has no idea that Star Wars is still popular.” You see, I don’t get that impression at all. Granted, after Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Solo: A Star Wars Story’s and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’s disappointing box office performances, Disney and Lucasfilm have slightly moved away from being exclusive to cinema. I think that Neeson didn’t seem to realize just how popular Star Wars still is. After all, the Star Wars Universe of fans is massive. We aren’t going anywhere.  

During the interview, veteran Collider Editor-in-Chief Steven “Frosty” Weintraub asked the actor if he’d like to be involved in the upcoming Disney+ Obi-Wan Kenobi series. Neeson said, “Sure, I’d be up for that, yeah.”

If you remember, Neeson’s Qui-Gon character was responsible for training Obi-Wan, played by Ewan McGregor. McGregor will reprise his role in Disney+’s forthcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi new streaming series, with Anakin Skywalker actor Hayden Christensen also returning. It would be enlightening to see Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan communing or perhaps Qui-Gon trying to bring Anakin back, much as Luke tried to do In Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. Given that Qui-Gon is dead, it’s hard to see him returning for Obi-Wan Kenobi as anything other than in flashbacks or a Force Ghost. 

Will Qui-Gon be making his return to Star Wars? I think the answer is coming sooner rather than later.

You can see Collider’s Steven Weintraub’s exclusive video chat with Liam Neeson here.

May the Force be with you….

Photos courtesy of Lucasfilm.