Yesterday Making Star Wars wrote about two rumours about one of the most beloved Star Wars characters: Darth Vader / Anakin Skywalker! I’ll leave the first rumour, which mainly deals with Rogue One, aside for now and focus on the rumour specifically dealing with the still quite far away Episode VIII, which doesn’t even have a title yet, because it’s one I’ve been thinking about myself for a long time. This is the last potential spoiler alert which I’m giving you in case you truly want to remain completely unspoiled.
Now, for the new rumour. Jason Ward at MSW received the following from a source:
A team in the U.K. are soon heading to the U.S. to begin training Hayden Christensen for a Star Wars: Episode VIII appearance of some sort.
Behind the scenes at Clone Corridor we’ve been wondering for a long time how they could seemingly make Darth Vader such a fundamental character to the storyline of The Force Awakens and not have this presence last throughout the whole Sequel trilogy. Darth Vader is seemingly a major influence on Kylo Ren but in the trailer we also get a view of Leia with Anakin Skywalker’s lightsaber so it’s no stretch to assume many major characters will at least be dealing with his legacy.
So why would it be a good idea to bring Hayden Christensen into the franchise again? There seems to be general surprise that Lucasfilm and Disney would bring a Prequel-actor in, considering the seemingly anti-PT message that the marketing has been spreading. But, as we’ve argued before, this marketing is only meant to get those fans who are already prejudiced to maybe leave those prejudices behind. I don’t believe the strong emphasis on practical effects etc. actually reflects that much on the story of TFA itself which will probably be an equal mix between OT and PT in feel and look alike. So, in my eyes, bringing in Hayden Christensen doesn’t feel like too big a stretch to me, especially if it allows Lucasfilm to actually integrate the Prequels in a way they think is interesting.
The thing that is intriguing is the mention of training. If this is to be a Darth Vader appearance, suit and all, they would hardly need Christensen for that and they probably wouldn’t need him for the action sequences anyway. So is this maybe a flashback to the Clone Wars? I can’t imagine they’d go back to Padawin-Anakin since Christensen himself has aged, so it would have to be The Revenge of the Sith-Anakin, dark curls and all. There is the other possibility that has been flagged by Furious Fanboys which links to the new novel, Aftermath, in which the ‘Acolytes of the Beyond’ seem big fans of Darth Vader and the ideas of resurrection.
If we were to follow that train of thought than we could get an unburnt and artificial Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader at the mercy of these Acolytes, which would have to be played by Hayden Christensen. Personally I would not only love to get another glimpse at Anakin Skywalker but it would also be intriguing to see him be brought back and see the Prequel storylines be flipped around. Anakin Skywalker in the PT came from “natural” Force conception and raised to be good, whereas this would be an Anakin Skywalker created artifically through the Force but unlikely to see much good. It could be very interesting and would, officially, tie in the Prequels with the Sequels in a way that is currently close to impossible since the new trilogy needs to be tied in successfully with the Original trilogy first.
As always with rumours of course none of this could actually be happening, but it’s fun to speculate! What do you think?
Clone Corridor 
What I would consider a more interesting option is if the authors of Episode VIII decided to pick up on the concept of ‘Mind Walking’ from the EU where in particular Jacen uses that regularly to revisit moments in Darth Vader’s life and study them while experiencing them. Scenes of such type could involve a Hayden Christensen performance.
Furthermore bringing in Hayden Christensen in-suit into Rogue One would be an opportunity to make the actor palatable for the PT-haters before he appears on screen out-of-suit in Episode VIII as a Jedi ghost or as a ‘mind walker’ wittnessed event from pre ROTS.
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I have always said that anyone who ever said they could do the sequels without any reference to Vader or Anakin was in complete denial.
Vocal fans who hate the prequels and the Anakin/Vader story, didn’t get the characterization they wanted so they’ve trashed Vader/Anakin/Hayden and the prequels for almost 15 years. Whether I agree with them or not, I would think that they might be happy to have that character possibly redeemed in their eyes and finally get what they want.
I could never see how they could avoid any reference to Vader/Anakin especially since the new movies will feature Luke and possibly direct descendants of Anakin/Vader. Vader has a broad history affecting the entire known Star Wars universe.
I’m sure the people behind the movies can come up with a creative way to do this.
My thinking is that if they clone Vader, he will be an evil replica. Yet, Anakin is still Anakin in the Force and he is now redeemed and can still have influence for good through the Force.
NOW…as recently as this month Hayden Christensen denied, and has been denying, any involvment in the new movies. He did promotion for his latest movie 90 Minutes in Heaven and was asked about it saying “the Anakin Skywalker character is done”.
BUT…we all know how secretive The Powers That Be have been about the movies. So lots of grains of salt being tossed about on all of this.
BTW…There are Prequel Trilogy related products on store shelves now. I got popcorn buckets and Rachel Bilson posted a pic of a nice tote bag with the entire Skywalker family on it from all the movies.
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I don’t know how I feel about that. A part of me would love to see Hayden Christensen in the new movies. But I don’t see how he would fit. I still believe there are too many returning cast members from the Original Trilogy.
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It will all depend on how they bring his character back, but I have faith that the Sequels will very much focus on a new generation with the returning cast members remaining in the background!
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