Hayden Christensen To Return As Anakin In Disney+’s ‘Ahsoka’ Series
by Erik Amaya
The Force is once again with Hayden Christensen.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Star Wars prequel actor will once again reprise his role as Anakin Skywalker in the upcoming Disney+ series, Ahsoka. Devised by Star Wars: The Clone Wars supervising producer Dave Filoni, the program will continue the story of the Jedi exile — voiced by Ashley Eckstein on Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels, but played in live action by Rosario Dawson — in the wake of Return of the Jedi and her subsequent appearance in The Mandalorian‘s second season. Presumably, she is still on the hunt for Grand Admiral Thrawn and, quite possibly, the missing Jedi adept Ezra Bridger.
Of course, that timeline presents a curious problem for Christensen as his character — either as Anakin or Darth Vader — has been dead for at least five years.
An easy go-to, of course, is a healed and heroic Anakin appearing to Ahsoka as a Force ghost. In fact, an apparition of the character was one of the early ideas presented and dropped for the Sequel Trilogy of films. Another option may be to use some of Marvel Studio’s de-aging technology and present flashbacks with both Christensen and Dawson enacting scenes during the Clone Wars. Either way, the actor’s participation in the series further cements Anakin and Ahsoka’s bond as an important part of the Star Wars story, even if it was unseen in the prequel films.
It also suggests Christensen’s own wounds from the surrounding fan fury of the prequels have also healed. His return to Star Wars comes after a long disassociation from the series following Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith. Beyond Ahsoka, he will appear as Vader in the upcoming Obi-Wan limited series.
