Hayden Christensen Discusses Anakin Skywalker's Return in Ahsoka and Dark 'Star Wars' at Celebration

One of the most exciting announcements from Star Wars Celebration is that Hayden Christensen will reprise his role as Anakin Skywalker in Season 2 of *Ahsoka*. Following this thrilling reveal, we had the opportunity to sit down with Christensen to discuss his return to the character after nearly two decades, his appreciation for the darker aspects of Star Wars, and even his favorite Anakin meme.

Our conversation kicked off with a discussion about other Anakin stories Christensen would like to explore on screen. He expressed a keen interest in delving deeper into the Clone Wars era, saying, "I would love to get to do some more of the Clone Wars-era." This makes sense, as aside from a standout scene in *Ahsoka* and brief appearances in the films, much of the Clone Wars-era Anakin we've seen has been brought to life by Matt Lanter in animated form.

Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker in *Ahsoka*. Image Credit: Lucasfilm

"I know my friend Ewan would be game for that as well," Christensen added. "It's a cool look. It's a cool sort of period in Star Wars, and I think there are great stories that we could tell there. So who knows, maybe one day."

While fans would undoubtedly love to see this come to fruition, Christensen acknowledges that it would "require a little bit of aging magic" to pull off. Nonetheless, this doesn't dampen his enthusiasm for the character, and he remains eager to continue exploring Anakin's story, including further delving into the Darth Vader timeline.

"I love this character," Christensen said. "I would love the chance to continue to explore Anakin's story some more and hopefully do the Darth Vader timeline a little bit more too. I think there are more stories there to be told."

Our discussion then turned to *Revenge of the Sith*, which is approaching its 20th anniversary on May 19, 2025. The film is renowned for its darker tone within the franchise, and Christensen appreciates when Star Wars tackles challenging themes.

"George Lucas made some very bold choices and I love that he did that," Christensen said. "However, he did it in a way that we could still digest everything. For example, Anakin is killing younglings, but we don't actually see it. But yeah, I like it when Star Wars goes dark. That works for me."

Reflecting on his return to the character after nearly 20 years, Christensen noted the personal growth and deeper connection he now feels to Anakin. "Of course it feels different. I'm different," he explained. "I've had 20 years of life that I didn't have before, and that just sort of changes your perspective on things. But in a lot of ways, I feel even more connected to Anakin now than I ever have because I've had more time to think about him and sort of try to understand him."

"It's a very unique thing coming back to a role after all of these years and an interesting sort of exercise in the craft of acting, having to sort of account for that passage of time. But I feel very fortunate that I have the opportunity to do it."

To wrap up our chat, we shifted our focus to the broader Star Wars saga and asked Christensen for his thoughts on the ongoing debate about the ideal viewing order for the films.

"Not really," Christensen said. "I don't know that there is a right way or a wrong way, and I think there's merit to both. I think George Lucas would like you to start with episode one and experience the story in a linear fashion, but there's definitely something to be said for starting with episode four. I've thought about it myself as I have yet to show my daughter the films... I mean she is going to see her dad do some sort of gnarly stuff."

Lastly, we couldn't resist asking Christensen about the plethora of Anakin memes and which one he enjoys the most. While he's familiar with the infamous sand meme and appreciates the one featuring him and Padmé in the field, his current favorite is a meme of Emperor Palpatine pleading with Anakin not to let Mace Windu kill him, with Anakin retorting, "He's just reflecting your lightning back at you... just stop shooting lightning!"