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Hayden Christensen on return to Darth Vader: 'It feels good to be back'

Christensen talks about his role in new Disney Plus Star Wars series Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Jennifer Bisset Former Senior Editor / Culture
Jennifer Bisset was a senior editor for CNET. She covered film and TV news and reviews. The movie that inspired her to want a career in film is Lost in Translation. She won Best New Journalist in 2019 at the Australian IT Journalism Awards.
Expertise Film and TV Credentials
  • Best New Journalist 2019 Australian IT Journalism Awards
Jennifer Bisset
2 min read
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Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker in Revenge of the Sith.

Merrick Morton

We'll be gorging on Star Wars content in the next couple of years, after Disney Plus announced 10 new shows, including the live-action series officially titled Obi-Wan Kenobi. Not only is Ewan McGregor back as the titular Jedi master, but Hayden Christensen will once again play the Sith lord Darth Vader, 15 years after he last appeared as the character in Revenge of the Sith.

"It was such an incredible journey playing Anakin Skywalker," Christensen told StarWars.com last week. "Of course, Anakin and Obi-Wan weren't on the greatest of terms when we last saw them."

Set 10 years after Revenge of the Sith, the show centers on Obi-Wan Kenobi, who was Anakin's mentor until the Jedi became corrupted by the dark side of the Force. Deborah Chow, who directed two well-received episodes of The Mandalorian, will helm the series, which is written by Hossein Amini, known for arthouse action gem Drive and most recently Netflix's The Alienist.

"It will be interesting to see what an amazing director like Deborah Chow has in store for us all," Christensen continued. He most recently brought Anakin back for a voice cameo in 2019's The Rise of Skywalker. "I'm excited to work with Ewan again. It feels good to be back."

Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy said of Christensen's return: "This will be the rematch of the century."

Tons of new Star Wars content was announced at Disney's investor event: Ahsoka, Lando, Rogue Squadron, The Bad Batch and more.

Obi-Wan Kenobi is expected to hit Disney Plus in 2022.

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