Star Wars Stuntman Shares Behind the Scenes Look at Darth Vader vs. Obi-Wan Kenobi

Warning: this story contains spoilers for Wednesday’s “Part III” episode of Obi-Wan Kenobi. A decade after Anakin vs. Obi-Wan in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, padawan and master meet again in Obi-Wan Kenobi “Part III.” The lightsaber duel between Jedi Master Obi-Wan “Ben” Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and the Sith Lord Darth Vader (Hayden Christensen) also reunites the Star Wars prequel trilogy co-stars, appearing together for the first time since Sith 17 years earlier. Behind the scenes, the “Part III” credits reveal the stunt performers who helped bring the Vader vs. Obi-Wan rematch to life: Tom O’Connell as Darth Vader and Ross Kohnstam as Obi-Wan.

“David Prowse. Bob Anderson. Hayden Christensen. Spencer Wilding/Daniel Naprous,” O’Connell wrote when sharing a behind-the-scenes look on Instagram, naming the Star Wars performers who suited up as Darth Vader between 1977’s A New Hope and 2016’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. “I’m beyond honored to help fill the massive shoes for this go ’round.” 

In the post, O’Connell thanked Obi-Wan series director Deborah Chow, stunt coordinator Jonathan ‘Jojo’ Eusebio, McGregor, and Christensen, who wore the Darth Vader armor for the first time since Revenge of the Sith in 2005. 

Christensen confirmed he suited up as the Dark Lord with the help of a “Vader movement specialist,” choreographer Olga Sokolova, and Dmitrious Bistrevsky, credited as the performance artist for Darth Vader. 

“That was something that we spent a lot of time working on,” Christensen told Entertainment Weekly about Vader’s physicality. “And this suit really just informs the way you move….We had this woman who was like a Vader movement specialist, and she made sure that we were always in the right ballpark. Certainly, we wanted to make sure that we were staying true to how Vader moves and how we perceive him, and wanting to keep all that relatively consistent.” 

Starring Ewan McGregor, Moses Ingram, Rupert Friend, Joel Edgerton, Bonnie Piesse, Indira Varma, Sung Kang, Grant Feely as young Luke Skywalker, Vivien Lyra Blair as young Leia Organa, and Hayden Christensen as Darth Vader, new episodes of Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi are streaming Wednesdays on Disney+.