Hayden Christensen Discusses Reprising Anakin Skywalker in 'Ahsoka' and Embracing 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*. Following this big reveal, we had the privilege of sitting down with Christensen to discuss his return to the iconic role after nearly two decades, his appreciation for the darker themes in Star Wars, and even his favorite Anakin meme.

Our conversation kicked off with a discussion about which Anakin stories Christensen would like to see brought to the screen. He expressed a keen interest in exploring more of the Clone Wars era, a period fans have mostly seen through animated series where Matt Lanter voiced Anakin. "I would love to get to do some more of the Clone Wars-era," Christensen shared, adding that his friend Ewan McGregor would also be on board. "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."

Christensen acknowledges that revisiting the Clone Wars era might "require a little bit of aging" magic, but this doesn't dampen his enthusiasm for the character. "I love this character," he said. "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."

As we approached the 20th anniversary of *Revenge of the Sith* on May 19, 2025, our discussion turned to the film's darker themes. Christensen praised George Lucas for his bold storytelling choices. "George Lucas made some very bold choices and I love that he did that," he remarked. "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 almost 20 years, Christensen noted the personal growth he's experienced. "Of course, it feels different. I'm different," he said. "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."

Towards the end of our chat, we touched on the ongoing debate about the best order to watch the Star Wars films. Christensen took a neutral stance, 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."

Finally, we couldn't resist asking Christensen about the plethora of Anakin memes and if he had a favorite. While he's seen the infamous "sand" meme countless times and enjoys the one of him and Padmé in the field, his current favorite is a meme featuring Emperor Palpatine pleading with Anakin to not let Mace Windu kill him, to which Anakin replies, "He's just reflecting your lightning back at you... just stop shooting lightning!"