Hayden Christensen’s Return As Darth Vader Revealed, And It’s Disappointing
Hayden Christensen will be back as Darth Vader, but don't get too excited.
This article is more than 2 years old
Hayden Christensen will be returning to the role of Anakin Skywalker a.k.a. Darth Vader in the upcoming Disney+ streaming series Obi-Wan Kenobi. Fans are obviously ecstatic to hear that the actor will be given another chance at embodying the crucial character, but a new rumor is throwing some cold water on exactly how the actor will be making his return.
Notorious Star Wars YouTuber Doomcock has posted a video on his account that states exactly how Obi-Wan Kenobi will be handling the return of Hayden Christensen to the role of Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader. If you want to see the video for yourselves, it is right here:
If you would rather get it summarized for you, here is the gist: Hayden Christensen will be back as Anakin Skywalker but will primarily be appearing in the dreams of Obi-Wan Kenobi. A big focus of the series will be Obi-Wan feeling guilty for Anakin’s fall to the dark side of the Force and will be haunted by the memory of his former friend. So while the actor will be back in the role of Anakin Skywalker and will have scenes with Ewan McGregor, they won’t be sharing the physical realm with each other.
Or maybe they will in a sense. The rumor also states that Hayden Christensen and Ewan McGregor could find themselves in “a nexus of the Dark Side of the Force like when Luke fought Vader in the cave in Empire Strikes Back.” So while the characters will be meeting again, their physical bodies will not be involved in any scenes. There is the possibility that we could see Christensen as Darth Vader with his helmet off, but it would not be in connection with sharing the same physical space as Obi-Wan Kenobi.
So, if you were expecting Hayden Christensen to physically confront Ewan McGregor in Obi-Wan Kenobi, you might want to start curbing your excitement. However, it should be said that this is nothing more than a rumor at this point. The only thing we know for certain is that Christensen will be back in the show and that he will “get into it again” with Obi-Wan Kenobi according to Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy. so no matter what the circumstances, we have been promised another confrontation of some sort between the two characters.
Still, it makes sense to keep these two characters physically separated. From everything we have seen in the Star Wars canon, Hayden Christensen’s Darth Vader has no idea where Obi-Wan Kenobi is in the galaxy. If the Obi-Wan Kenobi series were to retcon that, it could cause a stir in the Star Wars fandom. Instead, it is probably better to use the magic of the Force to bring them together through dreams or alternate planes of existence. That way, they get to meet and have at least one scene (hopefully more than one) together without breaking the continuity of what has come before.
We are certain that Obi-Wan Kenobi is going to be a big event in the Star Wars universe, and we are intrigued to see exactly what role Hayden Christensen’s Darth Vader will play in the story.
