'Star Wars' Star Hayden Christensen Is Making A Return To A Galaxy Far, Far Away

Even though many “Star Wars” fans mock George Lucas’ prequel trilogy, fans have come around to embrace Hayden Christensen’s portrayal of Anakin Skywalker before he became Darth Vader.

Christensen first played Obi-Wan Kenobi’s apprentice in 2002’s “Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones” and 2005’s “Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.”

Even though Skywalker eventually became the Sith Lord Darth Vader at the end of the film, the 2008 “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” animated film went back into the past and gave fans a glimpse of Skywalker and Kenobi taking on adventures in between the two films.

The film turned into a series, which ran intermittently from October 2008 – May 2020, and saw the introduction of Skywalker’s padawan, a young Togruta girl named Ahsoka Tano. The 7-season arc explored the relationship between Anakin and Ahsoka, with Ahsoka eventually choosing to put the Jedi Order behind her.

With the “Star Wars” sequel trilogy complete, it appears that Lucasfilm is turning their eyes on the past, as Christensen is set to appear in two new prequel shows starring two of the characters closest to him.

Fans were ecstatic when they learned that Emmy award-winning actor Ewan McGregor was going to reprise his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi for the six-episode Disney+ limited series, “Kenobi.”

Christensen was signed onto the project a short while later to reprise his role as Darth Vader, along with Sun Kang, best known as Han from the “Fast and Furious” franchise, and Kumail Nanjiani, who traded “Silicon Valley” from some serious muscle in Marvel’s “Eternals.”

Nanjiani revealed that he felt intimidated when he first started working with McGregor on set.

“My character is supposed to be a little bit intimidated by him, and I was a little bit intimidated,” Nanjianai teased. “You know, it’s f--king Obi-Wan. What are you gonna do?”

Ahsoka Tano made her first live-action appearance in season 2 of the Emmy-nominated hit “The Mandalorian,” played by “Trance” actress Rosario Dawson. Although she decided not to train Baby Yoda, er, Grogu, fans fell in love with her character, and it was later announced that she would return to star in her own spin-off show, produced by Jon Favreau and written by Dave Filoni.

However, fans have a few questions as to just how Christensen is going to appear in this project. ‘Ahsoka’ is set to take place five years after 1983’s “Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi,” which saw Darth Vader sacrificing himself to save his son, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill).

It is most likely that Anakin Skywalker will return as a Force Ghost to train his young padawan and give her guidance once again, but it is also possible that he will return for several flashbacks scenes to give fans a live-action glimpse of what happened during the Clone Wars.

So far, no other cast members have been announced. It is possible that Katee Sackhoff will return to reprise her role as Bo-Katan Kryze, but Rosario has teased that Ezra Bridger and Grand Admiral Thrawn from the animated series “Star Wars: Rebels” will be making an appearance.

In an Instagram post, Rosario posted a photo of breakout “Aladdin” live-action star Mena Massoud alongside Ezra and Lars Mikkelsen next to Thrawn, writing, “Yassss the best news ever! I need my BIPOC representation in [Star Wars]. Can't wait to see my BBs thrive in Ahsoka as my fav characters in the universe!”

Neither actor has confirmed their participation in the project.

Neither “Kenobi” nor “Ahsoka” have a set release date, although “Kenobi” is anticipated to be released in 2022 after season 3 of “The Mandalorian,” which does not have a set release date.

The debut of “The Mandalorian” sister series, “The Book of Boba Fett” will be available to stream on Disney+ on December 29, 2021, and stars Temuera Morrison as Boba Fett and Ming-Na Wen as Fennec Shand.