Anakin Skywalker doesn’t like sand. It’s coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere. That fascinating little tidbit is revealed in a moment of painfully stilted dialogue from Attack of the Clones, and it’s a moment that Star Wars prequels lead Hayden Christensen has been paying for ever since.
To his credit, however, this new photo taken from the Rhode Island Comic Con makes it evident that the star is a pretty good sport these days about all the jokes sent his way. In a Reddit post, we see a fan grinning with a bag of sand that he presumably took to the event solely for this moment, and while it’s hard not sense a little despondency in the eyes of Christensen, perhaps we’re just projecting and he’s perfectly cool with it.
In any case, just like the prequels he was in, Christensen still has his defenders amidst the Star Wars fanbase, and with the actor easing his way back into the scene with this Comic Con appearance, there’s been a little speculation that he could be making a return in the upcoming Star Wars: Episode IX, most likely in Force Ghost form. Seeing how most viewers of the series don’t exactly have the fondest memories of prequel-era Anakin, however, it doesn’t seem too probable that director J.J. Abrams will be aiming for that particular nostalgia buzz.
But as doubtful as this prediction is, it’s been a popular theory for a while now that Abrams will be drawing on elements from the prequels, so maybe the filmmaker still has a surprise cameo or two planned for when Star Wars: Episode IX hits theaters on December 20th, 2019.