The Star Wars community has been through a divisive stretch over the past six years. Many viewers, both tenured in the fandom and relatively new, have had extremely strong opinions when it comes to the sequel trilogy.
However, one aspect of the franchise that brought almost everyone back together collectively was the announcement of the Kenobi series on Disney+. More specifically, the confirmation that both Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen would be reprising their respective roles as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader for the first time since 2005 is what truly built an immediate craving to see the show.
Filming began in May 2021 and just recently finished in mid-August. With a release date set sometime in 2022, an official trailer will likely air in early to mid-2022 due to possible reshoots and having to go through post-production.
A standalone film centered on Obi-Wan has been a demand from the community for the past decade but only under the condition that McGregor would be brought back on to don the Jedi robes. Hayden Christensen, whose voice as Anakin Skywalker could be heard speaking to Rey during the climax of The Rise of Skywalker, received an incredible amount of love from fans in previous years as the prequel trilogy became more and more popular.
Little has been known about Christensen's return, only that he has been cast as Darth Vader, not Anakin Skywalker. Now, a recent concept art leak finally revealed what he may look like as the Sith Lord.
CONCEPT ART OF HAYDEN CHRISTENSEN'S DARTH VADER
According to Star Wars News Net, concept art surfaced showing a first look at how Hayden Christensen will look as an unmasked Darth Vader in the upcoming Kenobi series on Disney+.
An extremely large bacta tank and a breathing apparatus that Vader will likely use while he is in the tank were also included in separate images, leading to the belief that there will be a scene or scenes of a scarred Hayden Christensen outside the Darth Vader suit.
Twitter's @starwarstuff2 also shared the images, which can be viewed below:
DARTH VADER OR ANAKIN SKYWALKER?
Any scenes of Vader outside his suit will be interesting to see.
The photos of the bacta tank and the breathing apparatus look similar to a specific scene in Rogue One when Director Krennic walks into Vader's castle on Mustafar and kneels down before a figure in a tank that looks strikingly similar to the concept art. This similarity could hint at the Kenobi series returning to the volcanic planet and allowing viewers to spend more time with Vader at his lair, a concept that many fans have wished to see.
In The Empire Strikes Back, a quick shot of the back of Vader’s head was seen as his mask was lowered onto his head. While it is unknown what was going through his head, it has been confirmed through comic books and other media that Vader spent a lot of time out of combat. It has also been revealed that during these times alone with himself, his thoughts have drifted back to the woman he loved the most, Padme Amidala, the reason he became Darth Vader.
Flashbacks or dreams from Vader's perspective about his deceased wife haunting him would be incredible to see. Vader is viewed as an irredeemable, genocidal character by everyone aside from his son, Luke, so showing the pain he has to go through as Anakin Skywalker because he was unsuccessful in saving his wife would be heartbreaking.
Kenobi is set to stream on Disney+ in 2022.
