Anakin is back (again), baby!
Hayden Christensen will reprise his fan-favorite role of Anakin Skywalker for season two of Ahsoka, the Lucasfilm Disney+ show that stars Rosario Dawson. The announcement was made at the Star Wars Celebration event in Tokyo, Japan.
Ahsoka creator Dave Filoni, executive producer Jon Favreau and star Rosario Dawson took the main stage for a panel to discuss the inspirations behind the show and the making of season one. Filoni spoke about the heavy influence of Hayao Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke and Favreau talked about George Lucas’ love for the character Ahsoka and reminisced about casting Dawson. The actress added that they begin shooting season two of Ahsoka next week.
After a brief scene between Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka was shown on the big screen, Christensen then walked out to rapturous applause from the crowd. But the announcement of his return didn’t come till near the end of the panel. “There’s not much I can share, but Anakin will be back for season two,” Christensen said to more hootering and hollering from the crowd.
Elsewhere, Filoni also talked a little about Rory McCann taking over the role of Baylan Skoll from the late Ray Stevenson, who died in May 2023. He confirmed that Admiral Akbar will return in season two and go head-to-head with Grand Admiral Thrawn.
Christensen famously played the future Darth Vader in 2002’s Star Wars: Attack of the Clones and 2005’s Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. He made his return to the Star Wars universe by reprising Anakin and Vader in Star Wars show Obi-Wan Kenobi and then returned to appear, in digitally de-aged form, in two episodes in the first season of Ahsoka.
The actor has been a star attraction at this year’s Celebration, which has among its many offerings, autograph signings and photo ops with key Star Wars players such as Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Rogue One‘s Mads Mikkelson, Andor star Diego Luna, and Ahmed Best (Jar Jar Binks), among others. However, anecdotally, Christensen, who has not acted in any major production and even took a break from screen work since wrapping up his Star Wars work in the aughts, has emerged among the top, if not the top, draw in this part of the Celebration galaxy.
The actor was also charging the most, by a significant margin. A photo with the Christensen cost around $208, with the next closest being Dawson, who had an asking price of $181. An op with Luna was around $160.)
Ahsoka follows the post-Return of the Jedi events of Ahsoka Tano, the outcast Jedi who was the former padawan (apprentice) of Skywalker. The show also stars Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ivanna Sakhno, Diana Lee Inosanto, David Tennant, Eman Esfandi, Evan Whitten, Genevieve O’Reilly, Ariana Greenblatt and Lars Mikkelsen.
Star Wars Celebration, the mostly biennial convention that assembles the faithful followers of the George Lucas-created sci-fi fantasy, is currently underway in Tokyo, Japan. At the event, Disney has revealed the title and release date of Shawn Levy and Ryan Gosling’s standalone Star Wars film, announced a Darth Maul animated series and shown off the first trailer for The Mandalorian & Grogu.
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