Hayden Christensen Teases ‘A Very Powerful’ Darth Vader In ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’
Obi-Wan Kenobi is set to premiere on Dinsey+ on May 25, 2022, and we now have a trailer as well as increasingly more information about the series, characters, and general storyline. Hayden Christensen, who has portrayed Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, has not only teased a return of the Dark Lord of the Sith ten years following the events of Revenge of the Sith but also that Obi-Wan Kenobi is fated to once again face his fallen apprentice prior to the events of A New Hope. Christensen has gone even further to say we should expect that he will be "very powerful" compared to when we last saw him at the end of Revenge of the Sith.
Because Lucasfilm and the cast are bound to not reveal too much, we will not know the full extent of Vader's power until we actually see him in action in the series. As all Star Wars fans are prone to do, we can (and must) endlessly speculate about what he might mean in terms of his appearance in the upcoming series. We get a brief glimpse of Darth Vader (possibly at his castle on Mustafar) and hear his iconic mechanical respiration in the recently released trailer. We also get clips of what appear to be Inquisitors, Force-sensitive individuals used by the Empire to hunt down Jedi who are still at large following Order 66. There are at least two Inquisitors that were previously featured in Star Wars Rebels. Perhaps we will see Vader interacting with and/or giving orders to the Inquisitors in person or via hologram. Maybe his contact with them will alert him to Obi-Wan's survival and ultimately guide him to their confrontation with each other prior to the end of the series?
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Series writer Joby Harold speaks of the threat posed by Vader metaphorically and how Vader casts a "shadow" that looms over the events of the series and its characters. Certainly, this has been a big part of the character pretty much ever since his first appearance in A New Hope. His influence intensified in The Empire Strikes Back as he and his forces stalk the heroes through to the very end of the movie. Even when he is not onscreen, you could still feel his presence like a looming, oppressive shadow over the characters. He seems to have lost some of that menace in Return of the Jedi leading up to his ultimate redemption and return to the light side. On the other hand, Rogue One, set right before the events of A New Hope, brings some of that Vader power back to the forefront, especially at the end of the film when he single-handedly cuts through a hallway corridor full of Rebel soldiers as he rushes to reclaim the stolen Death Star plans.
Based on the trailer as well as the rumored rematch with Obi-Wan, it seems clear that we will definitely actually see Vader onscreen at least a few times throughout the series. Although, it is still a mystery how often and in what capacity we will see him. It is possible that we may see some flashbacks of Vader when he was still Anakin Skywalker during the Clone Wars. The recent Disney+ series The Book of Boba Fett relied heavily on flashbacks in its earlier episodes to fill in some gaps in what happened to Boba following the events of Return of The Jedi. Perhaps we will see some previously unseen moments between Obi-Wan and Anakin during the Clone Wars that would become relevant within the Kenobi series?
Christensen has been asked whether we might see him as Vader helmetless, sort of like the brief clip of Vader in his meditation chamber in The Empire Strikes Back. So far, he has refused to comment on that possibility. In whatever capacity we ultimately see Christensen as Darth Vader, his appearance will surely provide more exciting moments for live-action Star Wars. It will further develop not only the characters of Darth Vader and Obi-Wan, but also fill the spaces between the prequel trilogy and the original trilogy.
Source(s): Screen Rant, Entertainment Weekly