In May 2022, Disney+ will host a new series Star Wars, Obi-Wan Kenobi, centered on the famous Jedi master. Darth Vader, the most famous antagonist of the saga, will also make his return. In a recent interview, the director also returned to the presence of the character, while justifying it.
Darth Vader’s return long debated at Lucasfilm
Star Wars continues to expand its universe on the small screen thanks to its many Disney + series, which allow you to dwell on periods or characters in more detail than in the original film saga. Next big series expected, Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi will land on the SVOD platform next May and will mark the return to the screen of Ewan McGregor in the role of Obi-Wan and Hayden Christensen in that of Anakin Skywalker, now Darth Vader. The return of the latter has long been discussed within Lucasfilm.
Earlier this month, the president of the production company and co-producer of Star Wars: Obi-Wan KenobiKathleen Kennedy told Entertainment Weekly that Darth Vader’s presence in the miniseries had been at the heart of a debate that had lasted “some time”. In an interview for the same media a few days ago, director Deborah Chow also returned to the presence of Darth Vader.
A different Darth Vader, but essential to the plot
In an interview published at the end of last week, Deborah Chow justifies the choice of the screenwriters to bring back one of the most emblematic characters of the saga in Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi. If we can legitimately think that the fan-service/financial gain aspect is not totally unrelated to this decision, she also explains that Dwelling on the history of Vader between the prelogy and the original trilogy was essential to understand the history of the character, but also that of the main character of the mini-series. It must be admitted that if one person has played a central role in the life of Obi-Wan, it is his former disciple.
Honestly, for me it all started with the fact that I really wanted to do something character-driven, because that’s the point of mini-series: you have more time to tell a real character story. So for me, the basis of a character is to start looking for who was important to him in his life. And it’s pretty hard to avoid Anakin/Vader in this scenario, especially coming out of Revenge of the Sith. Deborah Chow
Finally, the director concluded her interview by stating that the Darth Vader that we will find in the mini-series, will not be quite the same as the one we knew until then. If, ten years after the events of Revenge of the Sithhe will obviously have totally succumbed to the dark side, he will however not yet be as seasoned as in the original trilogy.
He is not the Vader of A New Hope. We’re kind of in the middle of this period [après La Revanche des Sith]. It’s obviously still Vader, but not one who is as well trained as in A New Hope. Deborah Chow
The six episodes of Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi on Disney+ will be available from May 25, 2022 on Disney+.
