Freddie Prinze Jr. Gives Blunt Reason Why He Won't Reprise Rebels' Kanan In Other Star Wars Projects, And William Shatner Would Probably Approve
While some people know Freddie Prinze Jr. for roles like Ray Bronson in I Know What You Did Last Summer or Fred Jones in the first two live-action Scooby-Doo movies (though he has “regret” over doing those flicks), Star Wars fans recognize him as the voice of Kanan Jarrus in Star Wars Rebels, which Disney+ subscribers can stream. However, if you were hoping to ever hear the actor voice the Jedi again, or potentially even see him play the character in live-action, that’s not happening. Prinze gave a blunt reason for why he won’t return for other Star Wars projects, and William Shatner would probably approve of it.
During a visit to The Big Thing podcast, Prinze chatted about his Star Wars experience among other topics, which included revealing that he only did that vocal cameo in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker as a “favor,” and otherwise has no interest in returning to a galaxy far, far away. When host Kristian Harloff asked if this meant “no Ahsoka,” the actor responded:
No Ahoska. I'm done with Kanan. I'm too old for that stuff. I grew up watching Star Trek more anyway. They had sex in Star Trek, man. Nobody gets laid in Star Wars.
I’d be remiss not to mention that Kanan Jarrus did get laid given the presence of his and Hera Syndulla’s son, Jacen, in the Star Wars Rebels series finale, but that’s beside the point. Freddie Prinze Jr. made it clear he’s moved on from Star Wars, and on top of that mentioned that he was more of a Star Trek fan in his younger years, which had more sexual content to his liking. So this should warm the heart of William Shatner, the original James T. Kirk who’s been known to makes jokes at Star Wars’ expense every now and then. Perhaps more importantly, the people running the new Star Trek TV shows that air to Paramount+ subscribers should consider finding a role for Prinze since he’s such a fan.
Of course, Star Wars Rebels viewers will remember that Kanan died towards the end of the show’s run, sacrificing his life in “Jedi Night” so that Hera and the other Spectres could escape from the Empire. Still, between flashbacks and possibly being able to take Force Ghost form, it’s not like there’s a lack of options for bringing him back, but that’s not something Prinze is interested in doing given how the character’s arc concluded. He continued:
Kanan’s story, at least for me, is done, I thought it ended beautifully. People cried, I was very happy for that. I don’t mean that like a jerk our goal was to make you cry. So for me, that story’s been told, and it’s done, and I wouldn’t have any interest in that and it would be weird to play a different character in that universe, so I don’t have any ambition to be in the Star Wars universe.
Following Star Wars Rebels’ conclusion in 2018, in addition to the aforementioned Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker cameo, Freddie Prinze Jr. also briefly returned as Kanan in Star Wars: The Bad Batch’s premiere episode, where the teenaged version of the character watched his master, Depa Billaba, be murdered during Order 66. Now obviously Kanan could still appear in Star Wars books and comic book series in the coming years, but as far as him being depicted on screen, unless Lucasfilm wants to recast the role, then don’t get your hopes up for that happening again.
If you are interested in what this space opera franchise has coming up, check out the lineup of upcoming Star Wars movies and TV shows, or you can plant your feet firmly in the past by marathoning the Star Wars movies in order on Disney+. Ahsoka premieres on the platform this August.
