To bring Vader back or to not bring Vader back? The execs at Lucasfilm hotly debated whether to have Hayden Christensen back as the Sith Lord in the upcoming Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi. As we now know, the ultimate decision was yes, and in a recent interview, Obi-Wan director Deborah Chow shared why it was important for her for Vader and Obi-Wan to meet once again before the events of A New Hope.
“For me, across the prequels, through the original trilogy, there’s a love-story dynamic with these two that goes through the whole thing,” Chow told Vanity Fair. “I felt like it was quite hard to not [include] the person who left Kenobi in such anguish in the series.”
In Chow’s mind, Obi-Wan still deeply cared for Anakin, and those emotions didn’t just go away when his former Padawan became Vader. “I don’t think he ever will not care about him,” Chow said about Obi-Wan feelings toward Anakin. “What’s special about that relationship is that they loved each other.”
Anakin, of course, had his own transformation when he became Vader, and in the same article Christensen shared that it was Chow’s perspective on the character that made him decide to return. “A lot of my conversations with Deborah were about wanting to convey this feeling of strength, but also coupled with imprisonment,” he said. “There is this power and vulnerability, and I think that’s an interesting space to explore.”
We can see Obi-Wan struggle with his love for Anakin when Obi-Wan Kenobi starts streaming on Disney+ on May 27, 2022.
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