Hayden Christensen Discusses Anakin Skywalker's Return in Ahsoka and His Appreciation for Dark 'Star Wars' Themes 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. After 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 tones of Star Wars, and even his favorite Anakin meme.

We kicked off our conversation by exploring what other Anakin stories Christensen would like to see 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 notable scene in Ahsoka and brief appearances in the films, most of Anakin's Clone Wars-era adventures have been brought to life through animation, with Matt Lanter voicing the character.

"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 certainly welcome such a project, Christensen acknowledges it would "require a little bit of aging" magic to pull off. Nevertheless, his enthusiasm for the character remains undiminished, and he's eager to explore more of Anakin's journey, including further delving into the Darth Vader timeline.

"I love this character," Christensen affirmed. "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 will mark its 20th anniversary on May 19, 2025. Widely regarded as one of the franchise's darkest entries, Christensen appreciates when Star Wars tackles challenging themes.

"George Lucas made some very bold choices and I love that he did that," Christensen noted. "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 role after nearly 20 years, Christensen shared, "Of course it feels different. I'm different. 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."

As we wrapped up our chat, we shifted gears to discuss the ongoing debate about the best order to watch the Star Wars films. Christensen offered his perspective, saying, "Not really. 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 miss the chance to ask Christensen about the numerous Anakin memes that have proliferated online. While he's familiar with the infamous "sand" meme and enjoys the one featuring him and Padmé in a field, his current favorite is a humorous take on a scene from "Revenge of the Sith," where Emperor Palpatine pleads with Anakin to not let Mace Windu kill him, and Anakin responds, "He's just reflecting your lightning back at you... just stop shooting lightning!"