Obi-Wan is only in his 30s in the prequel trilogy but 20 years later, he’s an old man. I thought the Obi-Wan miniseries would explain why Obi-Wan is so much older than just 20 years older because even though Alec Guinness was 60 in this movie, it seems like they made him look even older and act like an “old man,” especially having difficulties moving and getting around more like someone who is 80. Does time move slower on Tatooine?
shareWas Obi Wan's age ever established in the prequel trilogy?
There are many continuity errors both between the prequels and the original trilogy, and within the original trilogy itself.
This may just be one more, but it is minor in comparison. It could also just be a mismatch between the characters and the actors that are playing them as well. Alec may have been 60, but the character he was playing could be younger. He had an air of experience and wisdom that comes across as old age, but may not have been meant to be.
I think he looks older because of the way living in the desert can wear on a person.
The difficulty moving around and such had more to do with intentionally not using the force or training in anyway. He lived in fear for the first 10 years on Tatooine and didn't use the force or practice any fighting skills or anything.
It's because the prequels are in a different continuity from the OT.
Thus Obi-Wan's age doesn't have to match up.
It's a bit like when you watch the Spiderman films you don't worry about how Aunt May was a really old lady in the Tobey Maguire films when you see Marisa Tomei in the Avengers films. You just accept they're both Aunt May...
one of the dumber mistakes they made on the KENOBI TV show was dying EM's hair and beard dark brown
they should have left it greying and perhaps even made it greyer
Apparently that was a plot hole Lucas caused all by himself.
I seem to recall that Obi-Wan looked like a relatively healthy old man in his 60s. From what we know, Luke Skywalker was 19 years old in A New Hope when he started his journey. The end of Revenge of the Sith shows that Obi-Wan Kenobi brought Luke to the Lars Homestead to be adopted by his aunt and uncle when Luke was still an infant, indicating that ROTS takes place 19 years before ANH. It is also hinted, that due to the Empire taking over, the last two Jedi to survive Order 66 (or so we thought, if Rebels is any indicator) had to go into hiding on remote worlds. Obi-Wan Kenobi apparently decided to hide on remote Tattooine, out in the Dune Sea, which even with advanced tech, is difficult to travel in and a nightmare to anyone trying to find anybody out there. We find out through EU lore that he was actually doing it to covertly keep an eye on Luke and protect him while he was growing up.
The trouble is, if Obi-Wan was in his 60s by the time ANH happened, that would mean he was already (roughly) in his late 40s/early 50s when he first dropped Luke off at the Lars Homestead, and in ROTS, he barely looks older than 42.
However, I would like to point out that life on Tattooine can be very harsh under those two suns. Most of the people who live on that world don't have access to high-quality skin care and have to work out in the sunlight a lot. It's possible, due to the stressful lifestyle Obi-Wan adopted (living out in the Dune Sea is no picnic, particularly where Sand People and other dangers are a constant threat), the extreme sunlight, and the lack of cosmetic self care, it's possible Obi-Wan is younger than people thought, but he aged prematurely in appearance.
I've actually seen it happen to people who were under a lot of stress over a period of time, and didn't have access to good cosmetic care. Fine examples of this would include, say, a teenager who had experienced 3 years of war, and came out looking 40 at the end of it, despite only 3 years passing (I saw a "before and after" photo of a Polish kid who experienced WWII). Another includes young ladies in the 1980s in southern California who tanned themselves like crazy and went surfing every day to look trendy. Trouble is, excessive exposure to the sun aged them early, and less than 15-20 years later, they resemble what the Texans call, "Lizard Ladies," women who look 20 years older than their actual age, have skin like leather, bleached out, frizzy blond hair, and too much mascara.
Guiness was 62 while filming STAR WARS
McGregor was 51 while filming OBI WAN, which was set 10 years earlier
sounds to me like they nailed it
His age was officially canonized by giving his birth year as 57BBY, so he was 57 in Star Wars. He was also 25 in Episode 1, bit old for a Padawan, but it was peace time and he basically just did it as an excuse to hang out with Qui Gon. That's also the reason why he directly become the Master of Anakin.
Look at pictures of e.g. Buffalo Bill around 1900 (https://www.bridgemanimages.com/de/noartistknown/portrait-of-colonel-william-frederick-cody-known-as-buffalo-bill-1846-1917-1900-photo-elliot-and-fry/photograph/asset/5026912).
The desert sun is really making you older, I can't find any picture with confirmed ages, but if you would go to North Africa, you could verify that quite easy with checking the age of elderly poor people.