In case you don’t know, James Arnold Taylor is known as the go-to man for voicing Obi Wan Kenobi in all things Star Wars, from games such as The Force Unleashed to the animated shows Clone Wars and Rebels. In a way, he has become almost synonymous with the famous Star Wars character, maybe just a step behind Alec Guinness and Ewan McGregor.
However, it seems like he won’t be back to portray him in the upcoming Battlefront II. An account named Star Wars Legacy recently took to Reddit to talk about an interesting conversation with James Arnold Taylor, in which the voice artist confirmed that he was not going to return to play the iconic character. When asked if he would return as Kenobi in Battlefront II, Taylor remarked that “that time has passed”, and when asked to confirm whether this meant that he won’t be voicing the character, he said, “Not that I wouldn’t love to voice him, I’ve just not been asked, so perhaps they are going a different direction.”
Star Wars Battlefront II, of course, will feature a full fledged campaign, that is going to be canon to the new Star Wars mythos, and it will span a story that starts with the ending of the original trilogy and goes on till the events of the new trilogy, so it goes without saying that Obi Wan will indeed be a part of the story in some way, shape or form.
Does this mean that maybe DICE and EA are going to have Ewan McGregor himself voice Obi Wan? He’s never done it before, but seeing as this is going to be canon, there’s a chance it could happen. It’s just speculation on our part, of course, but one can always dream. If that does turn out to be true, it’d be perhaps the only scenario where we would be okay with Taylor not reprising the role.
Stay tuned for more updates on Star Wars Battlefront II.
