Rumor: A Bearded Jar Jar Binks Will Appear In The Obi-Wan Kenobi Disney+ Series

Looks like Ewan McGregor's Obi-Wan Kenobi will be encountering a familiar face in his upcoming Disney+ series. A new rumor claims that Jar Jar Binks, perhaps the most hated character from George Lucas's Star Wars prequels, is going to appear in the new show – and this time, Jar Jar will have a beard.

This rumor comes from Making Star Wars, a site which generally has a very solid track record when it comes to breaking Star Wars scoops. But take this with a huge grain of salt for now – the site points out that filming for the new series has not yet begun, so they themselves are still treating this story as a rumor for the time being.

"I'm told 'Ben' Kenobi crosses paths with his old friend from Naboo, Jar Jar Binks," writes MSW's Jason Ward. "Early work has been conducted for the CGI Gungan's return to Star Wars. Jar Jar has a beard to reflect where he's been and what his life has been like since they were all deceived by a great lie that ushered in the first Galactic Empire...I'm told there is a sequence where the bearded Jar Jar Binks and Obi-Wan talk about the past."

While we want to again stress that this has not been confirmed, I wouldn't be surprised if Lucasfilm decided to go in this direction. There's a huge contingent of fans who grew up loving the prequels, and it sounds like this version of Jar Jar Binks – a bearded and possibly jaded, despondent evolution of the character – could go a long way toward "redeeming" the hyper-annoying sidekick in the eyes of those who hate him. While Star Wars is generally has a somewhat lighthearted tone, I can easily picture Jar Jar tossing a few back with Obi-Wan and lamenting the fact that he inadvertently helped facilitate the rise of the Empire, causing untold amounts of destruction in the galaxy. That's a lot to put on the shoulders of a single Gungan.

Will actor Ahmed Best be back to reprise the role of Jar Jar? There's no word on that yet, but after years of struggling with depression himself thanks to an onslaught of negative treatment from "fans" who can't distinguish fiction from reality, he's already coming back into the Star Wars family as the host of a game show called Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge. Perhaps the shooting schedules for those productions will allow him to appear in both?

Does the reunion between Jar Jar and Obi-Wan happen on Tatooine? How do Gungans grow facial hair? Has Jar Jar given up his sad job as a street performing clown? Stay tuned to see if we find out.