‘Star Wars’ actor Hayden Christensen is set to reprise his iconic role as Anakin Skywalker in the upcoming season 2 of ‘Ahsoka’. The Canadian actor confirmed the news in Tokyo, during the recently held ‘Star Wars Celebration’.
During a panel between series star Rosario Dawson, creator Dave Filoni and executive producer Jon Favreau, Christensen emerged from off-stage, joining the trio for the discussion. He waited until the last moments of the panel to announce his return to the franchise, according to Variety.
“There’s not much I can share, but Anakin will be back for season two,” Christensen said.
The actor has been a star attraction at this year’s Celebration, which has among its many offerings, autograph signings and photo ops with key ‘Star Wars’ players such as Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), ‘Rogue One’ star Mads Mikkelson, ‘Andor’ and ‘Rogue One’ star Diego Luna, and Ahmed Best (Jar Jar Binks in the prequel franchise), among others.
Christensen first portrayed the Jedi Knight-turned Sith Lord in 2002, in the second film of prequel trilogy ‘Attack of the Clones’ as a young Padawan under Jedi Master Obi Wan Kenobi’s (Ewan McGregor) tutelage, and was largely focused on his romance with his lover-and later-wife Padme Amidala (Natalie Portman).
The film which received a mixed reception was followed by the highly acclaimed ‘Revenge of the Sith’, where he portrayed Anakin – as a powerful Jedi Knight – and focused on his eventual descent into the Dark Side, becoming the dreaded Sith Lord – Darth Vader – after being defeated in a climactic duel with his former master and best friend Obi Wan.
During the ‘Star Wars Celebration’, Filoni discussed how he plans to continue the story of Anakin after his work on the 2008 animated spin-off series ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars’, and emphasised his great respect for the creator and mastermind of the franchise, George Lucas.
“Anakin’s story was already told. George did that,” Filoni explained. “I don’t have to add anything to that. I don’t have to explain anything about it. What George did is what he wanted and it’s perfect.
“The story I’m telling is about Ahsoka. The reason why Anakin can be in this is because he’s relative to her story. But I’m very careful in what I’m doing (so) that I’m not changing or adjusting anything that George did.”
‘Ahsoka’ is set a few years after the events of ‘The Return of the Jedi’, and follows the journey of its titular character Ahsoka Tano, the former apprentice of Anakin Skywalker.
