Hayden Christensen Talks About Putting The Darth Vader Suit On Again

Darth Vader is set to return again in the upcoming Disney+ series, "Obi-Wan Kenobi," with Hayden Christensen reprising his role as the Jedi-turned-Sith Lord after 17 (!) years away from the character. Christensen talked about donning the iconic suit and helmet again, calling it "a great honor" to be able to reprise a cornerstone role in the entire history of the "Star Wars" franchise (via Entertainment Weekly):

"Well, without getting into too much detail, it was amazing. It's a great honor to get to put that suit on."  

We look forward to hearing more of Vader's (also iconic) breathing under that suit again. Read more of Christensen's thoughts on returning to the role and putting that costume on once again below. 

"Obi-Wan Kenobi" is set 10 years after the events of "The Revenge of the Sith," where we saw an emotionally-torn Obi-Wan (Ewan McGregor) leave Anakin burnt and limbless on the planet of Mustafar. The Disney+ series will be following the titular Jedi master during his years of exile on Tatooine, wherein his core priority is to protect a young Luke Skywalker (Grant Feely) from nefarious Jedi-hunting Inquisitors. Vader is also in the picture, of course, now that he is busy systematically hunting down the Jedi and cementing his position in the Empire.

While the series premiere of "Obi-Wan Kenobi" has been unfortunately delayed, fans will only have to wait a little longer to see their favorite Sith Lord taking the reigns again, and possibly crossing paths with his old master in some capacity (Will there be more epic lightsaber duels? One can hope). Even though Christensen is returning after roughly two decades, his familiarity with the role, especially via the pre-Darth Vader psychological exploration of Anakin's character in "Attack of the Clones" and "Revenge of the Sith," helped him slip back into the character:

"It was mostly a lot of excitement because I had spent enough time with this character and felt like I knew him, and coming back to it felt very natural in a lot of ways. And I was just really excited to get to come in and play Darth Vader at this point in the timeline because it did feel like a natural continuation of your journey with the character. And that was very meaningful for me."

Christensen went on to describe the experience as "very surreal" and "a unique opportunity" for both him and McGregor, who get to reprise their roles and flesh out their character arcs in a meaningful manner.

Here's hoping that we see Christensen-as-Darth-Vader carrying out deliciously disturbing strategies in their quest for power fairly soon, replete with impatient force chokes when things do not go his way.

"Obi-Wan Kenobi" is set to premiere on Disney+ with two episodes on May 27, 2022.