Hayden Christensen is returning to Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, and for months there have been rumors he was set to return in the Obi-Wan Kenobi series on Disney+.
Christensen had previously downplayed the Hayden Christensen is finally returning to Star Wars. But not as Anakin Skywalker; this time he's playing Darth Vader.
The Obi-Wan Kenobi series will reunite Hayden Christensen and Ewan McGregor, but they will no longer be Master and Apprentice. Now, they will be Jedi Master and Lord of the Sith, standing on opposite sides of the Force divide. As exciting as this idea may be, though, there's just one problem; how can it possibly work within the confines of Star Wars canon and continuity?
Hayden Christensen's Darth Vader Return Risks Breaking Star Wars Canon
The core problem is that, at first glance, there is no logical place for a story featuring Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi to fit within the timeline. As seen in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, after he defeated Anakin Skywalker on Mustafar Obi-Wan exiled himself to Tatooine in order to watch over Anakin's son, Luke. true Chosen One, destined to defeat the Sith and bring balance to the Force, and consequently the mission of guarding Luke Skywalker consumed him. Obi-Wan lived on Tatooine through the entirety of the Dark Times in which the Empire ruled the galaxy, gradually transforming into the old hermit Ben Kenobi, as seen in the very first Star Wars movie.
George Lucas' very first Star Wars clearly implied that Darth Vader, for his part, had long since come to believe his old Master was dead. He was shaken to the core when he sensed Obi-Wan's presence on the Death Star, and when the two faced off against one another the dialogue carried the sense of an old vendetta unexpectedly reignited. "I am the Master now," Darth Vader declared, as though Obi-Wan had not seen him since the day he left him for dead on the surface of Mustafar. So how does all this possibly fit with a single live-action series, clearly set during the Dark Times, featuring Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan and Hayden Christensen as Darth Vader?
Darth Vader Could Be The Key To The Obi-Wan Series
Various Star Wars tie-ins have gradually explored Darth Vader's role in the Dark Times, and curiously enough they have set him upon a road that could well have led him to Obi-Wan Kenobi. Anakin Skywalker's apprenticeship to Palpatine began with his participation in Order 66, and it pleased the Emperor to continue to use the Chosen One against the Jedi. He tasked Darth Vader with the mission of hunting Order 66 survivors across the galaxy, and gave him a group of corrupted ex-Jedi - dubbed "Inquisitors" - to serve as his agents. Darth Vader and his Inquisitors were featured prominently in both Star Wars Rebels and the Emperor's pawns in Operation Harvest, while adults were slain.
Darth Vader had a list of potential Order 66 survivors, and his Inquisitors scoured the galaxy looking for them. Marvel's comics have already confirmed Jedi Masters Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi were at the very top of that list, and there can be no doubt Darth Vader would have had a most intense drive to locate Obi-Wan. In truth, it seems rather unlike a Dark Lord of the Sith to simply assume a hated enemy has died in ignominy, rather than hunt him down relentlessly.
The Kenobi Series Could See Obi-Wan Fake His Death
The Obi-Wan Kenobi series is set 10 years after the prequels, and - given Obi-Wan lived in isolation on Tatooine - it could potentially reveal how Obi-Wan first heard Darth Vader was still in service to the Empire. Suddenly Obi-Wan would realize he was the last protector Luke needed, because any hint of his presence would lead to the Empire arriving on the desert planet in force. Far from being safe, Luke was at great risk. There would be only one way for Obi-Wan to keep Luke safe; he would need to convince Darth Vader and the Emperor that he was dead.
When Darth Vader sensed Obi-Wan Kenobi in the first Star Wars film, his reaction is actually quite interesting. "I sense something," he observed. "A presence I've not felt since..." The Dark Lord of the Sith broke off his sentence there, and until now viewers have assumed he was recalling his defeat on Mustafar. Instead, he could actually have been ing an event in the Dark Times, when he had believed he watched Obi-Wan die. Far from referring to Mustafar, he could have been thinking of an as-yet-unseen event that will be shown in the Obi-Wan Kenobi series.
This approach wouldn't just avoid a Star Wars continuity problem - it would subtly fix one, because it would explain why Darth Vader and the Empire stopped looking for Obi-Wan Kenobi, allowing him to spend years in exile on Tatooine. Indeed, it would also fit with Obi-Wan beginning to go by the name "Ben," as a way of further distancing himself from the legendary Jedi Master the Empire believed dead. If this theory is correct, the Obi-Wan Kenobi series will be a thrilling game of galactic cat-and-mouse - with the fate of the main Star Wars story itself hanging in the balance.