It doesn’t matter what Hayden Christensen accomplishes throughout the rest of his career, he’ll always be known as Anakin Skywalker. A lot of actors successfully manage to avoid being typecast and escape the shadow of playing a major role in a beloved franchise, but none of his movies over the last fifteen years have been able to see him shed the weight of having been the future Darth Vader.
Christensen likely made his peace with that a long time ago, though, and he’s been a regular presence on the convention circuit who’s always happy to field questions about Star Wars whenever he’s asked. Now, after months of rumors and speculation, it was finally confirmed at this week’s Disney Investor Day that the Jumper actor will return to a galaxy far, far away as the former Chosen One to co-star alongside Ewan McGregor in Obi-Wan Kenobi. Shortly after the news was revealed, Christensen broke the silence on the matter and admitted his excitement at being back, saying:
“It was such an incredible journey playing Anakin Skywalker. Of course, Anakin and Obi-Wan weren’t on the greatest of terms when we last saw them. It will be interesting to see what an amazing director like Deborah Chow has in store for us all. I’m excited to work with Ewan again. It feels good to be back.”
The last meeting between Obi-Wan and Anakin in Revenge of the Sith didn’t end too well for the former, or maybe it did in the long run after it directly led to the creation of the most powerful villain in the galaxy. In any case, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy has already teased the rematch of the century between the two, which is more than enough to get the fans excited.
McGregor recently claimed that Obi-Wan Kenobi would be a one-off deal, but based on the hype and expectations, if it ends up delivering, you can imagine that the Disney hierarchy will be keen to continue telling more stories, especially with the two decades between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope in canon providing plenty of fertile creative ground.