Not only will the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series feature the return of Ewan McGregor as the former Jedi Master, but we’ll also get to witness Hayden Christensen suiting up as Darth Vader nearly twenty years after the release of Revenge of the Sith.
The return of Darth Vader in Obi-Wan Kenobi has left fans anxiously awaiting the release of the series and Hayden Christensen told Entertainment Weekly that it was a little surreal reprising the role after all these years.
It was mostly a lot of excitement because I had spent enough time with this character and felt like I knew him, and coming back to it felt very natural in a lot of ways. And I was just really excited to get to come in and play Darth Vader at this point in the timeline because it did feel like a natural continuation of your journey with the character. And that was very meaningful for me… The whole experience was very surreal. Just the nature of coming back after all this time. It’s such a unique opportunity — one that both Ewan and I were very grateful for.
As for getting to put the suit back on? “Well, without getting into too much detail, it was amazing,” Christensen said. “It’s a great honor to get to put that suit on.” Obi-Wan Kenobi director Deborah Chow has previously teased that this Vader isn’t quite as fully formed as the one we meet in A New Hope. “For us, it’s very similar [to Obi-Wan] in the sense that he’s in between these two trilogies,” Chow explained. “So he isn’t the New Hope Vader quite yet, you know what I mean? So we are with the character sort of in the middle of this period. It is still Vader obviously, but it’s a Vader that isn’t quite as fully formed as A New Hope.“
In addition to Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen, Obi-Wan Kenobi will also star Rupert Friend as the Grand Inquisitor, Moses Ingram as Reva/the Third Sister, Sung Kang as the Fifth Brother, Joel Edgerton as Owen Lars, and Bonnie Piesse as Beru Lars. Kumail Nanjiani, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Indira Varma, Benny Safdie, Maya Erskine, and Simone Kessel will also appear. The Obi-Wan Kenobi series begins 10 years after the dramatic events of Revenge of the Sith where Obi-Wan Kenobi faced his greatest defeat—the downfall and corruption of his best friend and Jedi apprentice, Anakin Skywalker, who turned to the dark side as evil Sith Lord Darth Vader. It will debut on Disney+ on May 25, 2022.