Obi-Wan Kenobi Star Hayden Christensen Speaks Out on If Qui-Gon Jinn Could Have Saved Anakin Skywalker

In Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, fans around the world learned the origins of Anakin Skywalker, the boy who would grow up to become Darth Vader. Liam Neeson’s Qui-Gon Jinn took Anakin out of slavery and insisted on him becoming a Jedi, despite what the rest of the Jedi Council advised. This, as we know, turned out to seal the fate of the entire galaxy. That said, fans have always wondered what would have happened if Qui-Gon’s plan would have gone as he intended.

Qui-Gon took Anakin away from Tatooine and planned to be his master, training him in the ways of the Force. Unfortunately, Qui-Gon was killed by Darth Maul, and the task of training Anakin fell to young Obi-Wan Kenobi, who had just become a Jedi Knight himself. We know how the rest of the story goes.

Hayden Christensen, who played Anakin in two of the three Star Wars prequels, is stepping into the role of Darth Vader in the upcoming Obi-Wan TV series, reuniting with Ewan McGregor on-screen. At Star Wars Celebration, the day before Obi-Wan Kenobi‘s Disney+ premiere, ComicBook.com’s own Brandon Davis caught up with Christensen and asked him how he thought Anakin’s life would have gone had Qui-Gon been around.

“I think it’s a really fun thing to theorize about,” Christensen said. “And that’s part of what I really like about this character,these concepts can turn about in your head. I think that the idea that he needed a strong parental figure in his life that he didn’t have holds a lot of truth. There’s a lot of ‘what ifs.’”

McGregor and Christensen are joined in Obi-Wan Kenobi by Kumail Nanjiani, Rupert Friend, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Maya Erskine, Sung Kang, Benny Safdie, Simone Kessell, Bonnie Piesse, Moses Ingram, and Indira Varma. With the exception of Obi-Wan and Vader, all of the roles are new and being kept under wraps. 

Obi-Wan Kenobi takes place in the years between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. After the rise of the Empire, Obi-Wan went into hiding on Tatooine, keeping watch over Anakin’s son, Luke Skywalker, from afar. After the death of Padme, and Anakin’s turn to the Dark Side, newborn twins Luke and Leia were split up. Luke was sent to live with his aunt and uncle, under the watchful eye of Obi-Wan, while Leia was adopted by Senator Bail Organa.

The first two episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi arrive on Disney+ on May 27th.