During a recent interview discussing his return as Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader in Obi-Wan Kenobi, Hayden Christensen revealed that, as part of his preparation, he had been binge-watching The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels. The actor shared high praise for those shows, and it was obviously in the former we got to spend a lot more time with Anakin before his ultimate fall to the Dark Side.
Matt Lanter lent his voice to Anakin in both shows and has, as a result, become as synonymous with the character as Christensen. Earlier this week, we spoke to Matt about his role in DC Showcase - Blue Beetle, and had to ask for his thoughts on what his fellow Skywalker actor said about The Clone Wars.
"I saw that! I’m happy that he went and checked out The Clone Wars and went public to say that," he enthused. "As an actor, actor to actor, I think that’s really smart of him regardless of whether I voiced the character or not. There’s a wealth of knowledge to learn about Anakin Skywalker in The Clone Wars. We had seven seasons to develop this character. Hayden didn’t have that opportunity in the films. He had a very tough job to take Anakin from a bratty teenager to the most iconic villain of all time in a very short amount of screen time."
"There’s a wealth of knowledge to learn from Anakin in The Clone Wars about his relationships, how he treats people, and the adventures he’s been on. I think that’s wonderful," Lanter continued. "Just as a fan of Star Wars, to know a role you were invested in and care about [has made such an impact]. That’s so cool and I’m glad he was able to revisit it."
"I haven’t had a talk with him or anything, but I met him in 2019 at a Star Wars Celebration and he’s a really nice, really great guy. At that time, he told me that he had seen some of The Clone Wars and how good he thought it was saying, ‘Hey, what you guys are doing with that show is really great for the Star Wars Universe.’ I knew he appreciated The Clone Wars, but it’s awesome to hear he watched it. I’m really looking forward to seeing the new show along with everyone else. I can’t wait."
Animated shows like The Clone Wars get overlooked far too often, so the fact Christensen highlighted its importance and found it incredibly useful means a lot to fans and, clearly, Lanter as well. He was phenomenal as Anakin over the course of the show's seven seasons and continues to play the character, even as recently as in the LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga video game.
The hope is that Obi-Wan Kenobi might include some live-action flashbacks to the events of the animated series, while it would be easy to borrow some of The Clone Wars' ideas to flesh out Anakin (and "Ben") during the period this series takes place as well. We'll have to wait and see.
DC Showcase: Constantine - The House of Mystery arrives on Digital & Blu-ray on May 3.