Hayden Christensen Prepared For His Star Wars Return In A Way Fans Will Have Feelings About
Hayden Christensen and Ewan McGregor have revealed what it was like to step back into their respective roles as Darth Vader and Obi-Wan after almost two decades
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Disney’s Obi-Wan Kenobi series is just over a month away from release and anticipation from fans is almost palpable. With any big Star Wars project, the actors are usually sworn to secrecy about things like plot details. But now, Hayden Christensen and Ewan McGregor have revealed what it was like to step back into their respective roles as Darth Vader and Obi-Wan after almost two decades. In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Hayden Christensen said he did something most Star Wars fans can relate to. To prepare for his return to the galaxy far, far away, he binge-watched every Star Wars movie and series he could find. “I went back and re-watched all the films,” the actor told the publication. “And I also got into the animated shows, The Clone Wars, and Rebels.”
As most Star Wars fans know, the animated shows created by Dave Filoni completed Anakin’s story arc in the best way. And now that Hayden Christensen is returning for Obi-Wan Kenobi viewers might get to see them play out in live-action. Speaking about the animated shows, the Star Wars alum described them as interesting. “They did a lot with these characters in those shows,” he told the publication.
He also said there was a lot of cool stuff to learn about. “It was great fun getting to go back and re-immerse yourself in this world that just continues to grow and become more and more vast,” Hayden Christensen said about preparing for his old role. The 41-year-old will also suit up as the iconic villain in the Rosario Dawson-led Ahsoka. So getting to know Anakin as a Jedi Master training a Padawan should help his approach in that series with more historical information.
Obi-Wan Kenobi begins ten years after the events of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. As the evil empire rules over the galaxy, the story will explore how Obi-Wan managed to stay hidden on Tatooine and how he protected a young Luke from Hayden Christensen’s Anakin in the years before A New Hope. The Disney series is directed by Deborah Chow, with Joby Harold serving as showrunner.
As previously reported, the Hayden Christensen starrer is rumored to bring in some other familiar characters like Jimmy Smits’ Bail Organa and a young Princess Leia. If this proves true, Obi-Wan’s most important task in the series will be to rescue the 10-year-old Leia after she gets into some trouble. She’s said to be a prisoner at a Cantina-like location that will showcase various new and old creatures from the Star Wars galaxy.
Starring alongside Hayden Christensen and Ewan McGregor are Joel Edgerton as Owen Lars, a moisture farmer on the desert planet and the uncle of Luke Skywalker as well as Bonnie Piesse as Beru Whitesun Lars, Owen’s wife, and Luke’s aunt. Sung Kang, Moses Ingram, Kumail Nanjiani, Indira Varma, Rupert Friend, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Simone Kessell, Benny Safdie, and Maya Erskine will also appear in the series.
The highly anticipated Star Wars series, starring Hayden Christensen as an evil Anakin Skywalker, is scheduled to premiere with two episodes on May 27th. The remaining four are scheduled to follow weekly, concluding on June 22nd.
