Ewan McGregor is set to reprise his role as the wise Jedi master in Disney+’s upcoming miniseries Obi-Wan Kenobi. While McGregor might get all of the glory, the eyes of most fans are on Hayden Christensen, who portrayed Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. Like McGregor, Christensen has not been part of the Star Wars franchise since the prequel trilogy concluded in 2005. Although Christensen was no longer part of the franchise, the character that he played continued to have several impressive story arcs in a variety of different mediums, including TV shows and novels. Christensen recently spoke about how he got caught up on his character’s journey in an interview with reporters from Entertainment Weekly.
In preparing for Obi-Wan Kenobi, Christensen says that he first went back and watched the entire Star Wars film series to get reacquainted with Anakin and Vader. The actor then binge watched two of the franchise’s animated series, The Clone Wars and Rebels. Premiering in 2008, The Clone Wars follows Anakin as he serves in the Grand Army of the Republic between the events of Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. Rebels sees Vader hunting opponents of the Empire before the events of A New Hope.
In looking at Anakin’s journey in both series, Christensen said that he was impressed with how vast the franchise had become in his nearly 15-year absence. The actor further says that he became interested in what the show’s writers did with the relationship between Anakin and Obi-Wan. In The Clone Wars, Anakin and Obi-Wan are shown to be incredibly close, forsaking their bond as master and apprentice and behaving more like brothers. The series also explores how Supreme Chancellor Palpatine inserted himself into Anakin’s life to prepare him to be his next Sith apprentice. Given that Christensen now knows Anakin and Vader’s full story, diehard fans of the franchise are looking forward to how he will incorporate the character’s history into his portrayal in Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Obi-Wan Kenobi is scheduled to premiere on Disney+ on Friday May 27 with a special double episode. The remaining episodes will then be released each Wednesday until June 22.
