Will James Earl Jones Return To Voice Vader In ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’?
After about 17 years, Hayden Christiansen returns to portray the role of Darth Vader in Obi-Wan Kenobi, having last worn the suit in 2005’s Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. With the rematch of the century due on May 25 and beyond, one name still appears to be missing. The name of an iconic voice that helped define the face of evil for a generation. He is the one man everyone associates with when they hear the name Darth Vader. That’s right, where is James Earl Jones? Is he even in this show at all?
In the original Star Wars trilogy, Darth Vader was portrayed by David Prowse. However, due to Prowse’s heavy West Country accent, George Lucas decided to dub him over with another actor. The original choice was actually Orson Welles, but thinking that his voice was too well known, Lucas went with James Earl Jones. Jone’s voice would prove to be an iconic part of the film with lines like, “I find your lack of faith disturbing,” and “When I left you I was but a learner, now I am the master.” This helped to cement Vader’s status as the breakout character.
So then, why haven’t we seen announcements of James Earl Jones joining Obi-Wan Kenobi? There are two possibilities for this. One, they are trying to keep it a secret. After all, the reveal that Darth Vader is going to show up in the series at all is a surprise in and of itself. It would make sense for the crew to keep the exact details a secret for now as it would make for a bigger surprise when they are revealed. Although, given that you are reading an article about said surprise, it would be wise to question the effectiveness of this secrecy. Of course, that is not really the point here, so we should just get back to the main focus.
The other possibility is very simple, James Earl Jones is not coming back. Considering his profile, it is highly likely that he's too busy, or too expensive for this project. This has happened before in The Lion Guard, a spin-off of The Lion King. Jones provided the voice for Mufasa in the original movie. However, he only voiced Mufasa in the first episode of the animated series with Gary Antony Williams taking over the role from then on. In addition, there have been entire decades worth of content that featured Darth Vader without James Earl Jones. This begs the question: if Jones is not voicing Vader, then who will?
There are two main options to consider. Scott Lawrence served as the official voice double for Jones from 1994 to 2006, voicing Darth Vader in a variety of games from LucasArts. Lawrence made a surprise return in the videogame Jedi: Fallen Order in which Vader served as the final boss, albeit one you had no chance of actually fighting. On another note, Lawrence played the role of Jerek Yeager in Star Wars Resistance.
Of course, the other option is the man who replaced Lawrence. That man is Matthew Sloan. Sloan actually appeared in a parody series, Chad Vader: Day Shift Manager before becoming the official voice for Vader alongside Jones and Lawrence. He would voice the Dark Lord of the Sith in many games like Soul Calibur IV, The Force Unleashed I and II, and Battlefront I and II. If it is not Jones you hear in recent production, then chances are it is Sloan. It would be interesting to hear him in Obi-Wan Kenobi.
For now, however, we can only speculate on what is going on in the minds of the creators. Everything will be clear when Obi-Wan Kenobi premieres on May 25, 2022.
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Source(s): Screen Rant, Wookieepedia