OBI-WAN KENOBI Concept Art Reveals How Hayden Christensen Will Return As Darth Vader - SPOILERS

OBI-WAN KENOBI Concept Art Reveals How Hayden Christensen Will Return As Darth Vader - SPOILERS

We know that Hayden Christensen is set to reprise the role of Darth Vader for the Disney+ Obi-Wan Kenobi series, and some leaked concept art has now revealed how the iconic villain will be depicted.

By MarkCassidy - Aug 26, 2021 09:08 AM EST
Filed Under: Obi-Wan Kenobi

Fans were pleasantly(?) surprised when it was announced that Star Wars prequels actor Hayden Christensen would reprise the role of Darth Vader for the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi Disney+ series, and have been wondering exactly how the iconic villain would be depicted ever since.

After all, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy made a point of confirming that Christensen would be playing Vader and not Anakin Skywalker, so why bring the actor back if he's going to be hidden behind a mask for the majority of his scenes?

Well, thanks to some leaked concept art via StarWars.net, we now have our answer.

The image shows the Sith Lord wearing a new type of breathing apparatus which only partially obscures his face, suggesting that he'll be spending a significant amount of time without his traditional helmet. There's also an artist's rendering of a bacta-tank that was spotted on the set. We will almost certainly see that classic Vader visage at some point, of course, but this is a great way to allow Christensen to show his face (well, his eyes) without completely contradicting the events of Revenge of the Sith.

Check out the artwork in the Tweet below.

Specific plot details are under wraps, but we do know that Obi-Wan will be set between the events of Revenge Of The Sith and A New Hope. There are also rumors that younger versions of both Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa will appear, but that's yet to be confirmed.

Christensen and Ewan McGregor and Ingram join Indira Varma, Joel Edgerton, Bonnie Piesse, Kumail Nanjiani, Rupert Friend, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Sung Kang, Simone Kessell and Benny Safdie. Their characters have not been announced, but some set photos did recently confirm that Varma will play an Imperial Officer.

The Mandalorian director Deborah Chow is set to helm all episodes of the series, with Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy on board as producer along-with Chow, Jason D. McGatlin (The Rise of Skywalker), Tracey Seaward (The Queen), and John Swartz (Rogue One).

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slickrickdesigns
slickrickdesigns - 8/26/2021, 9:50 AM
No need for Hayden to be seen at all… maybe once or twice when he’s suiting up to go out as Vader and even then you didn’t need Hayden. But I’m excited to see what they do with Obi Wan.
The1st
The1st - 8/26/2021, 12:40 PM
@slickrickdesigns - It'll be much like Rebels, you may occasionally see some if not all in bacta tank or in a flashback, but that's likely it.
Humby
Humby - 8/26/2021, 9:50 AM
"suggesting that he'll be spending a significant amount of time without his traditional helmet"

Don't see how it suggests this. Looks quite similar to how we see him in Rogue One, which was literally for a few seconds. Cool none the less though.
GhostDog
GhostDog - 8/26/2021, 9:51 AM
Looks like the Rogue One art.

I am assuming they will show him out of the suit and/or mask at the very least; in private. Maybe even in nightmares that Obi has.
WakandaTech
WakandaTech - 8/26/2021, 9:52 AM
D+ Day in November is going to be Massive

For Me my most anticipated Trailers are

Moon Knight and Obi Wan Kanobe
THEDARKKNIGHT1939
THEDARKKNIGHT1939 - 8/26/2021, 9:55 AM
When your six-pack ab implant surgery goes terribly wrong:

Origame
Origame - 8/26/2021, 10:26 AM
@THEDARKKNIGHT1939 - still in better shape than most of us.
ModHaterSLADE
ModHaterSLADE - 8/26/2021, 9:55 AM
Was already happy we were getting this series, but Hayden coming back was a nice reveal. Return of the Sith made me respect him in the role.
Reeds2Much
Reeds2Much - 8/26/2021, 9:55 AM
TheMandalorian
TheMandalorian - 8/26/2021, 9:56 AM
So the Rogue One quick scene? Gotcha... okay. Better than just a quick cameo in Rebels when the Vader Mask gets cracked and they show his face underneath and his voice changer is damaged. Ha!
SpideyPuffsMJ
SpideyPuffsMJ - 8/26/2021, 9:57 AM
Hell yeah
Hawkguy
Hawkguy - 8/26/2021, 10:01 AM
I hope he spends a significant amount of time like that. Just walking around shirtless with no arms.
HeavyMetal4Life
HeavyMetal4Life - 8/26/2021, 10:03 AM
MarvelousMarty
MarvelousMarty - 8/26/2021, 10:05 AM
It's a bacta tank mask, not a new "mask" surely?
CUAD
CUAD - 8/26/2021, 10:07 AM
Why does Darth Vader need a breathing support for losing limbs?
theprophet
theprophet - 8/26/2021, 10:16 AM
@CUAD - his lungs were burnt as well
Origame
Origame - 8/26/2021, 10:27 AM
@CUAD - his whole body caught on fire. His lungs are definitely damaged.
DCwanabe
DCwanabe - 8/26/2021, 2:43 PM
@CUAD - The inside of his lungs are fried, it's horrific when it happens in real life. Severe Burn victims endure the stuff of nightmares, the recovery process is straight up torture, your bandages have to be ripped off constantly because your skinless tissue keeps trying to seal to them in an attempt to create skin again, basically think being skinned alive over and over again every time those bandages are removed. The process of draining the fluid from the lungs for folks who survive is also terrible, they shove a metal pipe down all the way into your bronchi. Vader in real life should be sooooo dead, all his major organs would have failed, most of his skin is burned off and his body has no way to regulate heat or remain hydrated, his genitalia is gone, his lungs would be seared beyond repair and his eyes would have melted out (They didn't go this far obviously, it was PG13). In order to remain alive through sci-fi mumbo jumbo it makes sense that pretty much all of his internals are machine, including his lungs, and he's gotta constantly be healing in bacta tanks, space aloe vera lol.
Timerider84
Timerider84 - 8/26/2021, 10:08 AM
I can't wait to hear James Earl Jones, even if it's just a little bit. I don't know how they are going to do Anakin's voice once his mask is off. Will it be Hayden's voice mixed with gasping for air?
Origame
Origame - 8/26/2021, 10:29 AM
@Timerider84 - it'd be cool if we have a transition from here with Hayden speaking then the mask comes on its jones.
DarthNihilus
DarthNihilus - 8/26/2021, 10:13 AM
Hope we see Darth Vader doing some stuff in god mode

Kyos
Kyos - 8/26/2021, 10:34 AM
I'm happy for Christensen, that he got this chance to revisit the character. Also his involvement really hurt my already cautious interest in the show.
JFerguson
JFerguson - 8/26/2021, 10:37 AM
Wonder if we will ever get to see Obi Wan as a youngling. I respect the balls out of Lucas for committing to putting a young Darth Vader in Phantom Menace the way he did. I didn't like it, but I respect it.
bkmeijer2
bkmeijer2 - 8/26/2021, 11:42 AM
I don't really care in what capacity Anakin/Darth Vader is gonna be in this, it's just really cool he's in it at all. Really hope this leads to a show where we see more of godmode Vader
ElricReturns
ElricReturns - 8/26/2021, 11:59 AM
I always had an idea for when this Obi Wan show should take place, and it would be in the middle of Vaders reign. We saw how Vader was born and how he fell, but there is a huge chunk in between.

I feel like there should be a middle period of Vaders reign where he forced by Palpatine into exile and stripped of his Vader suit.

Hear me out.

When Anakin falls, he falls completely. Dripped in rage and furious passion, he almost blindly flings himself into the dark side almost like a psycho. Killing... no slaughtering children, choking out his pregnant girl, lashing out with blood lost against Obi Wan. Then after Padme dies, I can see him for years as Vader being ruthless and unflinching. But after time and the blood lust had dimmed, those glimmers of the light would creep in, and Palpatine would sense the sliver of doubt growing in him.

It was all Palpatine could do to constantly test and defile his apprentices growing unrest, but time and again it would return. Vader began questioning Palpatine, and soon it became clear. Palpatine saw his apprentices potential and loyalty, but feared he would need to surrender completely to the dark side.

Palpatine stripped Vader of his suit which had become a symbol of fear across the galaxy, stripped Vader of his weapon, and sent him of an odyssey, and not to return until he is ready.

This would be the time period Obi Wan takes place. Anakin, looking burned up and half robotic, shrouded in cloaks... hunts for Obi Wan who he believes he must kill to set himself straight. He has to use underhanded tactics to traverse the galaxy and find Obi Wan, without the aid of his legendary persona or his light saber.

All this is happening in the background as we are setting up Obi Wan current day on Tattoine. We see what appears to be a cloaked figure skulking about keeping eye over a young Luke who's tasked with buying a very expensive power converter, and we assume this cloaked figure is Obi Wan (homage to Old Ben Kenobi intro). Just then some young puny theives corner Luke and attempt to rob him with weapons, but the cloaked figure stumbles in and makes odd noises, scaring off the whimpy thieves. Luke turns to thank the cloaked figure, but mid sentence the figure uncloaks to reveal a bigger scary theif with a giant gun pointed at Luke. He grunts in an alien language "Hand it over".

Just then a door just behind the theif opens up and a giant alien bouncer throws out a drunk hobo who happens to land directly on the thief. In the commotion young Luke runs away with his power converter. The thief, furious his score just got away picks up the drunken hobo and screams an alien horrendous wet scream in his face.

The drunken man acts limp and mumbles something inaudibly. The alien growls "what did you say?"

The drunken hobo slightly clearer mumbles "I said.... is the boy... gone?"

"What?" The hulking alien barks, confused.. "Of course he is! And now you're..."

"Quite good." The hobo says as his speech clears up considerably and his posture corrects. "You may set me down now and I'll be on my way."

"Wha... you little freak, you cost me credits and..."

The hobo raises a hand and swipes it in front of the alien and states "you have no desire to keep me".

Slightly groggy and confused, the alien sets down the hobo and continues... "...and I have no desire to keep you."

The hobo stumbles as he's set down and begins to walk away as he reaches into the sleeve of his cloak.

The Alien suddenly shakes his head and looks at the hobo walking away, and shouts confused "ey! Why help the kid, and why pretending being drunk?"

The hobo successfully retrieves a bottle of something strong from his sleeve and takes a big swig.

"Who said anything about pretending?" And stumbles away I to the allies.

So in this show Obi Wan is a drunk and haunted by his past just as much as Anakin, barely able to keep watch over Luke.

Word of a drunk force user makes its way to Anakin who's working the Underworlds trying to find any lead. He gets the Intel about the force user and head after Ben but has to kill and rip off people to make his way to him.

When Anakin arrives on the sand planet, Ben immediately senses him and flees into the dessert. There they spend an episode ceasing each other and finding both are in a way pitiful versions of their former selves. Anakin now a Hollow shell of the man he was or the Sith Lord he tried to become, haunted by two destinies, unable to fulfill either. Ben destroyed by his failures, the fall of his Jedi, the ruin of all Qui Gon hoped, and unable to even faithfully watch over Luke as his final charge, as his fall from the light and dependence on substances to fight off the dark side and numb him from the force.

These two are nothing like they were when they were brothers. They battle recklessly in the dessert to a destructive stale mate nearly to death and to exhaustion, when ships arrive seeking Anakin for his murders and stealing to get to Tattoine.

They capture Ben and Anakin.

The mini series becomes about how the two have to begrudgingly work together to escape this guild of killers. Along the way they're friendship momentarily reimerge in moments. Then by the end of their journey together they have a falling out when the truth of Pademe is revealed, and Anakin makes the choice not to believe Obi Wan and to believe Palpatines lies. In that moment their friendship dies again and they battle once more to the death.

Or so it would seem, because Obi Wan manages to slip away to Anakins ultime rage out moment ever.

Anakin returns to Palpatine, renewed by his hate and ready to Don his Vader armor and eliminate all the Jedi once again. Seemingly putting to rest once and for all his flirting with the light side (until Luke of course).

Obi Wan spends a few years in hiding on distant planets from Tatooine but not too far as to not be able to keep watch on Luke (and for potentially future seasons), until years later he returned to Tattoine to over see Luke's troublesome teen years when he would become a man and the biggest threat to the Empire.
ElricReturns
ElricReturns - 8/26/2021, 12:23 PM
I imagined a crazy sequence of events to explain why Anakin uses a no breathing apparatus during this period that utilizes Haydens modulated voice.

When Palpatine strips him of his Vader armor, that includes his breather, making it immediately a ticking clock for survival for Anakin to start this exile. He has to flee the empire and steal a new breather and supplies before he dies, succumb to his injuries. (Gracously Palpatine let him keep the appendages)

So I imagine a sequence where we see a crew is boarding their ship and get attacked by Vader who is taking them out fast and frighteningly vicious.

As he kills the final person we notice he is shaking, he quickly gets up and runs to a near computer, frantically typing as his eyes bulge. We see a door lock open and him run into a storage room and using the force tosses a crate against a wall as he drops to the floor, shaking violently.

Body beginning to convulse, he manages to look up. Raising up a hand, the crate rumbles and a breather comes flying out and into Anakins hand.

Securing it to his face and powering it on, Anakin GASPS violently as his body cumples backwards on the ground and he gulps in massive gulps of air through his damaged, rattling lungs.

Struggling to get back on all fours, shaking like crazy, Anakin looks up and says "Kenobi."

Final shot of episode 1.
Makiveli21
Makiveli21 - 8/26/2021, 12:37 PM
@ElricReturns - ain't nobody reading that giant essay bro. Learn to paraphrase here in the comment section.
ElricReturns
ElricReturns - 8/26/2021, 12:40 PM
@Makiveli21 - I've had 2 people message me about this post already and we continued the conversation in messages. So... wrong.

I appreciate your attempted hate tho. People actually enjoy reading.
Kev97
Kev97 - 8/26/2021, 12:49 PM
@Makiveli21 - i appreciate long posts about fan theories and such. this comment section wasn't and isn't very active so why not? adds to the site in my opinion.
lordmanKnight
lordmanKnight - 8/26/2021, 12:57 PM
@ElricReturns - That was crazy long bro... but i dug it. I actually read it lol
Dredd97
Dredd97 - 8/26/2021, 12:13 PM
I'd love for the show to start off with a flashback to a Clone Wars era scene and then we go right into the show proper. It'd be a nice nostalgia moment before we get into what is sure to be a depressing show about an old Jedi
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