For more than 15 years, Star Wars fans have been hoping to see actor Hayden Christensen return to the galaxy far, far away, but given that his last appearance in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith saw him becoming Darth Vader, it raised the complication that we wouldn’t necessarily need Christensen to bring the villain to life. However, following Lucasfilm’s confirmation that Christensen was finally returning for the upcoming Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi series, fans still wondered how he would be involved in the series, with a new report from Star Wars News Net seemingly confirming why it was important to have Christensen himself involved in the project. You can also head over to Star Wars News Net to see artist’s renderings of photos taken from the set of the series, as well as concept art.
The concept art shared by the outlet sees the critically injured Vader in a bacta tank, similar to how we saw Luke Skywalker recuperating on Hoth in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. The image features a mask-less Vader, and while the image itself is merely a concept, any plans to show Vader in such a state would explain why Christensen’s involvement would be necessary. The outlet also shared renderings of a bacta tank and a mask resembling the breathing device seen in the concept art that are based on actual photos from the set, which would imply the concept art could have become more than just a concept.
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What makes these details interesting is that, given the nature of the Sith Lord, it seemed unlikely that he would intentionally be removing his mask for any reason in the series, leading fans to hypothesize about whether we could be seeing flashbacks to Anakin Skywalker in the series, which would understandably require Christensen’s involvement. While it’s still surely possible there could be flashbacks of unseen moments between Ewan McGregor’s Kenobi and Anakin, these new details might mean Christensen’s involvement is limited to showing more intimate sequences where he is in a bacta tank or possibly even at his castle in Mustafar, which audiences caught glimpses of in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
Given how long fans have been hoping to see the actor return to the series, this latest report will surely add more excitement to the project and build anticipation even further.
Stay tuned for details on Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi.
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