Hayden Christensen Will Return For Obi-Wan Kenobi Series

The December 10th Disney Investor call has given Star Wars fans a huge surprise! In an explosive outpouring of content announcements, there was one announcement that stood out: Hayden Christensen will be donning the black armor and cape for the screen for the first time since 2005 to reprise his role as Darth Vader. Christensen will be appearing as the Sith Lord in the Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi. He will be featured in the show with fellow Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith alumni Ewan McGregor.

After not seeing Christensen in a live-action Star Wars role for the past 15 years, it is a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one. The gap in time between Christensen's appearance is even longer than when Obi-Wan last saw his wayward apprentice; the series begins 10 years after their duel on Mustafar. At this point in the timeline, Darth Vader's son Luke Skywalker is ten years old and only nine years away from Kenobi's demise on the Death Star.

The announcement already has fan speculation running wild: Who will play young Luke? Will Vader return to Tatooine to seek out his former Master? Will there be another clash between the duo while Kenobi tries to remain in hiding? Will we see more animated characters in the flesh like Ahsoka Tano in The Mandalorian?

With the pandemic still going strong, it is a surprise to see Disney announce so much more additional content for their streaming service. Filming Obi-Wan Kenobi means using new tools and technology to film a live-action drama while keeping to a budget and schedule. One tool that they have credited to being able to work more easily in the pandemic than any other media production company is their Stagecraft Screen, a round projection theater that allowed the crew of The Mandalorian to film the vast majority of their outdoor scenes while inside a soundstage. This cuts down on the need for location scouting, on-site set construction, moving crew to a location, or even needing sunlight to film daytime scenes. This also removes the need for compositing: an expensive process that requires artists to work with software to remove a green screen and replace it with a background. Instead of using green screens or filming at an outside locations, actors are moved to a stage where moving computer-generated pictures of the background are projected onto a rounded canvas. This lets the crew mimic the sky in order to convincingly fake filming outdoor scenes. Disney has announced that they are building five more Stagecraft Screens to use for the production of their other live action shows, including Obi-Wan Kenobi.

For the moment, the rest of the cast remains a mystery, but the director of the series has been announced. Deborah Chow, the director of two episodes of Season 1's The Mandalorian, will be directing the series once it goes into production.

Obi-Wan Kenobi has not had a release date or shooting date announced, meaning that it likely will not be released until 2022 at the earliest. With all the other Star Wars content announced today, there will be plenty to keep Star Wars fans busy.

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Written By Trey Atwood

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