Hayden Christensen says he’d be down to lead a Darth Vader spin-off show
Christensen believes there's "more to explore" with his infamous character
Aux News Darth Vader
Vader is back, baby, and he’s here to stay. Riding high from his return to the Star Wars universe in Obi-Wan Kenobi, Hayden Christensen isn’t ruling out any future appearances as Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader—and that includes leading his own Disney+ show.
In a recent interview with ET Canada, the actor was asked if he’d consider helming a Vader series. “Yeah, I mean, you know, absolutely,” he said. “I think this is a character that sort of resonates in our culture and in a very kind of profound way. And there’s certainly more there to explore. There are so many other stories that have been told in these other mediums.”
Christensen, who recently reflected on how “cathartic” it was to once again don the iconic villain’s suit, added: “I would love to get to continue my journey with him.”
He’s already scheduled to continue the journey with Rosario Dawson’s Ahoska. (That upcoming series is reportedly set after Vader’s journey has ended, so presumably he might appear in flashback—meaning there’s a chance we’ll see Ahoska’s mentor, Anakin, rather than his Sith alter ego). But to hear Christensen tell it, he’s just shocked to have returned at all.
“It was definitely a surprise,” he said of being asked back (in an interview with HeyUGuys). “You know, for the longest time, no, I didn’t think I’d be stepping back into this role again. But certainly, in the back of my head for a little bit, I was maybe hopeful that one day such an opportunity might present itself.”
“This whole project was a surprisingly emotional experience,” Christensen continued. “This is a character that means so much to me, and to other people as well. This is a character that has resonated in our popular culture in a very unique way, so getting to continue my journey with Darth Vader has been so cool.”
Here’s to more of the journey, in whatever way, shape, or form Disney+ is willing to give us.
41 Comments
Unfortunately 45 years ago Lucas made Vader a character who would be incredibly difficult to have any charisma or connection to an audience for extended screen time. He’s a black box with a robot voice.
Yea he’s best used exactly how he was in Rogue One; just show up, be terrifying, and kick butt for a bit while the good guys try to escape. Making a Vader show would be like making a show about Agent Smith from the Matrix.
I would pay good money to see the sequence from the comics where he finds out Luke is his son in live action, or animation, or some motion.
*sing*
Da-da-da-da-da-DAT . . . It’s The Vader Show, and that’s me, I’m your host!
It’s The Vader Show, and I’ve got lots of good guests . . . da-da-da-da-da-da-da-daaah . . .
Tune in as Lord Vader lobs softballs at some former Imperial senators!
Also, the Dancing Twi’leks of Tattooine!
And musical guest, “Fiery” Figrin D’an!
Tonight on The Vader Show: Jedi, absolutely horrible or just the worst? We’ll take your calls LIVE on the air!
I think that presents challenges, but not insurmountable ones. The Star Wars movies managed to get audiences to care about a rolling trashcan who communicates only in beeps, among lots of other characters buried under makeup, costumes, and prosthetics. The protagonist of The Mandalorian spends virtually the entire show fully masked, and with a voice at least slightly altered. And James Earl Jones and David Prowse managed to do plenty to convey what Vader was feeling. To step outside Star Wars, think of Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator 2 — emotions sometimes resonate more strongly because we, the audience, know they’re restrained.
Vader has not always been well served in the moments when he’s supposed to express emotion. (Nooooooooo.) But I think with good writing and effective voice acting, you could make him an effective character.
The Star Wars movies managed to get audiences to care about a rolling trashcan who communicates only in beeps
Heh, you do have a point
I agree there could be a good Vader show in spite of the challenges. But one of your challenges is you have a 91 year old doing the voice. And using Hayden would be pointless since he wouldn’t do the voice, wouldn’t do the stunts, and we wouldn’t see his face other than rarely under heavy makeup. He can be willing to do whatever, but I just don’t see how that helps.
Except the Vader comics have done well and told some really good stories. They have a wealth of stories to pull from and would assume would do well in live action.
Good stories isn’t the same thing as the unexpressive, masked, obscured voice Vader being the protagonist of a whole series.
And yet oddly, I found him able to convey an incredible amount of pathos for every minute of screen time he had in both Empire and Jedi. Just like I found V to be surprisingly charismatic in V for Vendetta. Or the title character of The Mandalorian to be unexpectedly compelling. Or Master Chief in… oh, wait. They took his helmet off. Never mind.Still, regardless:
Actor would like to continue getting paid for more acting. Crazy.And it is not Ahoska.
Obviously I’ve yet to see how Christensen is included in the Obi Wan show, but Vader is a man in a mask with James Earl Jones’ voice. Does it even matter who “plays” Vader at this point?
Truth is, James Earl Jones isn’t gonna be around forever and I suspect some physicality is important with the role, particularly if you can use line delivery from someone who understands the character and his journey as a guideline of where to go with VO, be that through JEJ or through some digital voice box.
Maybe they’re going to do the Iron Man-style cuts to extreme closeups of Hayden’s face inside the mask!
That not always true. If he’s in a video game or in a Lego related property he’s got Matt Sloan doing a James Earl Jones impression for a voice
Glutton for punishment, isn’t he?
…or he jut has some back taxes to pay.
That bathroom is not gonna retile itself
No. No we don’t need a Vader spin off. We already had one its called The Prequels.
Not to mention the Clone Wars
You mean Clone Wars. I never heard of any prequel.
George Lucas did not serve his actors well in the prequels. It’s astonishing that a cast with Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Samuel L. Jackson, and Christopher Lee comes off so lifeless. The character of Anakin Skywalker as written in the prequels is deeply annoying, but I’m not sure Christensen honestly did worse than the rest of the cast. He just didn’t have a past history of famously amazing performances (Schindler’s List, Trainspotting, etc.) that made it easy for him to move on.I hope this show will offer a degree of redemption.
I think Hayden Christensen was absolutely doing his best in the prequels. He just had to read some of the most bland/cringe dialogue of all time while being directed by someone who has clearly never seen two people interact before in any capacity. I recently rewatched Episode II, and it is absolutely baffling to me why they didn’t have someone else write/direct the non-action scenes. Or just have someone who had the nerve to tell George Lucas no once in a while.
The prequels also seem to have basically no interest in the actual emotional connections between the characters. Every line just serves to move characters to the next thing they have to do. It’s striking that Alec Guinness’s brief description of his friendship with Anakin feels a lot more heartfelt than anything in the prequels, even though that’s the ostensible core of the story.Or take the scene in Revenge of the Sith where Obi-Wan announces he will go to Tatooine to watch over Luke. The prequels treat this like moving pieces on a chess board — Obi-Wan starts A New Hope on Tatooine, so we have to describe him going there. But the whole emotional meaning behind the scene is lost. Obi-Wan is basically giving up his entire life, partly to care for Luke and partly as a kind of atonement for his role in bringing about a catastrophe that kills many of his friends. Here’s one of our main characters making a sad and fateful decision, and it doesn’t feel like anything.
He was pretty good in Shattered Glass.
Hm… which other actors read for the Anakin part in Eps 2 and 3?
I am continually reminded of Carrie Fisher’s commentary: “Back then George… didn’t talk to people.”
I, too, would be down for more money.
Ah yes the actor who’s been doing direct-to-streaming movies for a decade is down to be the lead in a Disney series. News!
Darth Vader is a single warlord trying to make it in NYC as a writer surrounded by his friends and enemies. Will Vader find love and crush rebel scum?
Watch Sith In The City Friday nights @ 9c/e only on TBS!
This would be great. I’d love to know how his story ends.
Short version: OH GOD I NEED A JOB SO BADLY YES PLEASE!
God bless his heart.
i would also like millions of dollars from Disney
AhoskaSame typo twice in one sentence. Guess they haven’t added that character’s name to their spell check yet.
Hayden you were in (2 of) the prequels, that was the Vader spinoff. Or hey, maybe you shoulda voiced Anakin in the Clone Wars show, a lot of that was arguably a Vader spinoff. I’d say at this point his story is pretty much told… except it’s not and Disney’s not gonna stop until it’s strip-mined every part of this franchise they can, so screw it I guess we’re all looking forward to Darth Vader’s 8 episode spinoff story in 2025.
Some title suggestions for the Vader spinoff.
Darth’s PlaceAfterANAKINThe Cleveland Sith
I do want this. But what I really, really want is an Organa family spin-off. Or just a young Leia spin-off. She’s honestly completely stolen the show for me.