Liam Neeson Returns as Qui-Gon Jinn in 'Star Wars: The Clone Wars'

If you’re a Star Wars geek and you haven’t been watching Star Wars: The Clone Wars, well, you should probably get on that. The second and third seasons of this groundbreaking computer-animated series have introduced some of the best Star Wars stories ever told. That’s right, ever.

Entertainment Weekly revealed earlier this week that Liam Neeson will be reprising the role of rebellious Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn on an episode of The Clone Wars airing on Jan. 28—the first installment of a three-part story arc. Neeson will voice Qui-Gon again on the Feb. 11 episode of the Cartoon Network series.

Of course, Qui-Gon is dead at this point in Star Wars chronology, so he presents himself to his former Padawan Obi-wan Kenobi as a Force ghost. Seasoned Star Wars nerd that I am, this strikes me as odd for two reasons:

1. I was always under the impression that Neeson wasn’t all that crazy about Star Wars—or its creator George Lucas—after his experience starring in The Phantom Menace. I thought this was why the planned post-mortem appearance of Qui-Gon was cut from Revenge of the Sith.
2. Obi-Wan seemed genuinely surprised at the end of Revenge of the Sith when he learned that Yoda had learned how to communicate with Qui-Gon through the Force. I know the folks at Lucasfilm are making things up as they go at this point, but this seems like a fairly flippant disregard for continuity—but then again, so were the prequels.

Gripes aside, this should be cool, and I have faith that this series’ supervising director Dave Filoni has figured out a logical way to bring back Qui-Gon without completely contradicting the films. Head over to EW.com to watch a preview.