Star Wars: Will James Earl Jones Voice Darth Vader in Obi-Wan Kenobi?

Will  Star Wars bring back James Earl Jones to voice Darth Vader in the Obi-Wan Kenobi series? After the first trailer for Obi-Wan dropped, Star Wars fans had a lot of questions about the particulars of the series: we know that Hayden Christensen is making his big return to the Star Wars franchise as the man inside Darth Vader’s suit – but as is tradition with the famed villain, body and voice to not have to be one and the same… 

Indeed, the character of Darth Vader as originally presented in the Star Wars Original Trilogy required two actors: David Prowse was the body in the suit of Darth Vader in Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and The Return of the Jedi; George Lucas cast a relatively unknown young actor named James Earl Jones to provide the voice of Vader. 

So will Obi-Wan Kenobi be taking the vintage approach to creating OT-era Vader? 

The cast of the show refused to say a word when doing an interview with EW. Obi-Wan Kenobi writer Joby Harold was discussing getting Hayden Christensen back for the show (“It was so important to have Hayden be a part of this project because he is such a massive part of that character. It was a priority to all of us that we did it with as much care as possible, so as to honor one of the greatest villains and antagonists in the history of entertainment.”) However, when it came to the question of whether that homage included having Jones back, EW notes that “no one will say.” 

On the one hand, James Earl Jones is 91 years old, and understandably, the list of projects that he’s doing as an actor are few and far between. If he doesn’t want to leave his doorstep to play in the Star Wars playground anymore, who in their righteous mind could blame him? 

That all said, the only projects that James Earl Jones seems to take on anymore are almost exclusively revisits to the franchises and roles that first made him famous. Jones once again voiced Mufasa in Disney’s live-action version The Lion King; King Jaffe Joffer in Eddie Murphy’s Coming 2 America sequel, and Darth Vader in Star Wars movies (Rogue One, The Rise of Skywalker) and animated series (Star Wars Rebels). Getting in another vocal performance as Vader in a live-action Star Wars TV series is well within James Earl Jones’ capabilities. 

The real question, in this case, is what is the true most “respectful” version of bringing Darth Vader back would be. Is it enough to have Hayden Christensen come back and only fill-out Darth Vader’s suit? Or does it require Christensen to walk the walk, and talk the talk? For his part, there’s little doubt that Hayden Christensen would see sharing the role with James Earl Jones as a huge honor – but would the fans? 

If nothing else, the amount of silence on the part of Obi-Wan Kenobi‘s cast and crew may be the most telling indicator that James Earl Jones will make a surprise return as Darth Vader. We’ll know when Obi-Wan starts streaming on Disney+ on May 25th.