Liam Neeson Reprising Role Of Qui-Gon Jinn For Episodes Of 'Star Wars: The Clone Wars'

I don't watch The Clone Wars, so I can't offer any insight on how this news fits into the storyline being developed on the show, but I will guess that the return to Star Wars of one of the best elements of the prequels is a good thing. EW reports that Liam Neeson will voice Qui-Gon Jinn on the episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars that will air on January 28 and February 11.

The actor told the magazine, "these characters resonate...even after all these years.... Growing up, my heroes were cowboys; they were strong and mysterious, and it seemed like they always rode off into the sunset. For kids today, Star Wars has that same kind of magic. I really wanted to be a part of that."

There's a (non-embeddable) clip available at EW, and from that it's pretty clear that, as you might guess, he's appearing in glowing blue force ghost form. For those who really follow the core mythology of the series, this might be a notable thing, given that Qui-Gon was supposedly the first Jedi to learn how to retain his identity after death, and that he would pass that skill on to Obi-Wan from beyond the grave. For those less worried about the small details of continuity, it's probably just cool to see Liam Neeson back in the Star Wars fold for a brief time.