Hayden Christensen made big news on the Star Wars front back in late 2020 with the confirmation that he would return to his role as Darth Vader for a rematch with Obi-Wan in the Obi-Wan Kenobi series. Now, the star who joined the galaxy far, far away in the prequel trilogy is reportedly set to return to Star Wars yet again with another series: Ahsoka.
The actor is set to reprise his role as Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader for the upcoming series centered on fan-favorite Ahsoka Tano, according to THR. Ahsoka made her live-action debut in Season 2 of The Mandalorian played by Rosario Dawson, but Star Wars: The Clone Wars fans know the deep history between Ahsoka and Anakin courtesy of animation, making Christensen's addition to the show a likely perfect fit.
At the time of writing, Disney has not commented on reports that Hayden Christensen will appear in Ahsoka, but production on the series is set to begin early in 2022. The Obi-Wan Kenobi series finished filming back in September, with few details available about Christensen's role in that series as well, although the initial announcement of his involvement in Ewan McGregor's series referred to him as Darth Vader, indicating that Christensen won't be appearing via flashback as Anakin. At least, not exclusively. There is plenty of secrecy around the Obi-Wan show as well!
There are currently no details available regarding how much Hayden Christensen will factor into the plot of Ahsoka, as it's not confirmed one way or the other if he'll be playing Anakin Skywalker or Darth Vader. The Rosario Dawson series is set after her appearance in The Mandalorian's second season, so neither Anakin nor Vader should be around in the present, making it likely that Christensen's role will involve flashbacks.
Then again, a Jedi who dies in the Star Wars universe is never necessarily gone for good, and Return of the Jedi proved that Anakin redeemed himself enough from his Vader identity to return as a Force Ghost. After the special editions of the original trilogy inserted Hayden Christensen's version of Anakin in the Force Ghost scene at the end of Return of the Jedi, that could certainly make sense.
The last time that Ahsoka crossed paths with Vader in Star Wars canon was seemingly in the Season 2 finale fight of Star Wars Rebels, and her last meeting with Anakin in the flesh was toward the end of The Clone Wars. So whatever happens with Ahsoka will be uncharted territory in canon, unless Hayden Christensen is on board to film a live-action flashback version of the Vader/Ahsoka duel from Rebels.
The timing of Ahsoka set concurrently to The Mandalorian and presumably The Book of Boba Fett indicates that it will likely follow her on her ongoing journey to track down Thrawn, as she was when she made her Mandalorian debut. That plot alone seemed likely to feature other familiar Star Wars characters, but reports of Hayden Christensen on board eclipse pretty much all other news for the series since it was announced.
Unfortunately, the wait to see Rosario Dawson's Ahsoka and Hayden Christensen's Anakin/Vader isn't going to end any time too soon, as production on Ahsoka won't begin until next year. The good news is that Star Wars fans will get to see Christensen himself back in the galaxy far, far away with Obi-Wan Kenobi, which is set to premiere its six episodes at some point in 2022. For now, we can just hope that it'll be earlier rather than later in 2022! And you can pass the time by revisiting Star Wars TV and movies streaming on Disney+ now.
