Liam Neeson Tears Into His Star Wars Death Scene: “Hardly a Jedi Master”

Liam Neeson isn’t the biggest fan of his death scene in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. While promoting the new comedy The Naked Gun, Neeson did a video with GQ where he looked back on some of his most famous roles. A section of the video is dedicated to his portrayal of Qui-Gon Jinn in the prequel trilogy. Reflecting on his experience making the film, Neeson seemed to suggest that Qui-Gon’s ultimate fate could have been handled better. He believes a wise, powerful Jedi should have fared better in a fight against Darth Maul.

“I’m supposed to be a master Jedi, you know,” Neeson said. “My character fell for that ‘Oh! I’m going for your face! No I’m not. I’m going for your stomach.’ [makes death noises] ‘Oh, you got me!’ Like, oh please. Hardly a master Jedi. But still, [making the film] was great.”

After starring in The Phantom Menace, Neeson reprised his role in 2022’s Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi. He makes a cameo as Qui-Gon’s Force ghost in the show’s final episode as the character reunites with his old apprentice at the end of what had been a long, grueling journey. Neeson also voiced Qui-Gon in an episode of the animated anthology series Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi. His son, Micheál Richardson, voiced a younger Qui-Gon on the program.

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Despite returning for Obi-Wan Kenobi, Neeson doesn’t appear interested in coming back to the franchise again. He feels that there are now too many spinoffs these days. “It’s diluting it to me, and it’s taken away the mystery and magic in a weird way,” he said when addressing another potential return to the galaxy far, far away.

While Maul is a highly skilled warrior trained by the most powerful Sith in the galaxy, a case can be made that Qui-Gon shouldn’t have been as easy to kill. Unlike Obi-Wan’s death in Star Wars: A New Hope, Qui-Gon wasn’t sacrificing himself; he was fighting to defeat Maul and survive so that he could train Anakin Skywalker. As a Jedi Master, it stands reason to believe that Qui-Gon is incredibly strong with the Force and more than capable with a sword himself. Throughout The Phantom Menace, he dispatches several battle droids with ease, proving his action prowess.

Of course, there’s a big difference between carving up helpless battle droids and dueling a hungry Sith apprentice eager to prove himself. It’s also worth keeping in mind that the Sith were believed to have been extinct for a millennium prior to the events of The Phantom Menace. Perhaps the Jedi, in their hubris, decided it wasn’t necessary to train as vigorously since the Sith had been dormant for so long, allowing complacency to sink in. After his brief encounter with Maul on Tatooine, Qui-Gon appears out of breath, as if he hasn’t been challenged like that on a physical level before. Maybe his death can be chalked up to fatigue; he had no experience battling Sith, so he was unprepared for Maul.