OBI-WAN KENOBI Star Hayden Christensen Says Fans Can Expect Lightsaber Battles Similar To STAR WARS Prequels

OBI-WAN KENOBI Star Hayden Christensen Says Fans Can Expect Lightsaber Battles Similar To STAR WARS Prequels

Obi-Wan Kenobi star Hayden Christensen has weighed in on what fans can expect from the show's lightsaber battles, suggesting Obi-Wan and Darth Vader's clash will be more in line with Revenge of the Sith...

By JoshWilding - May 12, 2022 05:05 PM EST
Filed Under: Obi-Wan Kenobi
Source: Total Film (via SFFGazette.com)

While there were plenty of amazing lightsaber battles in the original Star Wars trilogy, it's not totally unfair to say that most of them were a little...tame. Had the prequels not upped the ante, we might not be saying that, but even the sequels - which grounded those battles again to a degree - made them a little more action-packed and intense than what we saw the first time around. 

Heading into Disney+'s Obi-Wan Kenobi, we know the titular Jedi Master will clash with Darth Vader, but what sort of lightsaber battle with the one-time best friends actually have? 

Talking to Total Film Magazine (via SFFGazette.com), Hayden Christensen was asked if the Sith Lord's fighting style will be more in line with Revenge of the Sith or A New Hope, and it sounds like we'll see an Anakin Skywalker who is at the peak of his abilities ten years after his transformation.

"We’re more in line with the prequels than we are with how the fights are in the original trilogy," the actor confirmed. "These characters have aged, but not that much yet. Most of my work on this project was in preparation. The physical preparation was intense. I had to put on a decent amount of weight and size to fill up the suit. He is 100 per cent a fully realised Vader."

"This is, in a lot of ways, Vader in his prime. But he’s a very complex character, and there’s an inherent struggle of identity that is always present – there’s inner conflict," Christensen continued, teasing what we can expect. "He’s always going to be struggling with the loss of Padmé. He’s got Anakin buried deep down inside. There always has to be that element of Anakin there, because he does eventually find redemption in the end – through the love of his son, no less. So there has to be that bit of him in there for Luke to be able to access. There’s a lot going on."

Will we get to see a glimpse of Anakin in Obi-Wan Kenobi? We're anticipating some flashbacks and a glimpse at what remains of him beneath the helmet, but perhaps we'll finally learn what Vader meant when he told Luke Skywalker that Obi-Wan once also believed he could return from the Dark Side.

Obi-Wan Kenobi hits Disney+ on May 27 with its first two episodes, so there's not long to wait.

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kazuma
kazuma - 5/12/2022, 5:09 PM
YES!! The prequels are the only movies to make Jedi actually seem dangerous.
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 5/12/2022, 5:19 PM
@kazuma - gotta agree to an extent. Yeah they were dangerous with a lightsaber, but not so much with their heads.

They drove the Sith to near extinction a 1000 years ago (which I guess requires fists and heads), only to let the chosen one slip through their fingers to that the one they missed.

The jedi were dangerous, to the galaxy. They had what was coming for them.
PartyKiller
PartyKiller - 5/12/2022, 5:48 PM
@bkmeijer1 - They didn't use the Force even 1 percent as much as they should have. But much of that is because writers depower characters in fights because it's easier. Like Spider-Man seeing Flash Thompson's punch in slo-mo but later when Osborn or Ock or others threw punches the same speed or slower, they connected. Or Spider-Man being strong enough to hit someone and smash their skull, yet Ock could take his punches.

It would've been too hard and time consuming for Lucas to write about competent Jedi getting killed. So they became incompetent. And as in most movies, unbeatable characters suddenly became beatable. Vader suddenly became beatable. As did Dooku and Maul. Lucas did at least use his head when Palpatine was killed in ROTJ. Though his ability to see the future suddenly sucked just because Lucas needed it to suck.
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 5/12/2022, 6:20 PM
@PartyKiller - atleast those things didn't really took me out of it as much as some stuff in the sequels (characters unlocking new force powers without set-up to get them out of sticky situations).

Atleast the Jedi not using the Force to its full extent can be blamed on them being too focused on politics and other "peacekeeping"
PartyKiller
PartyKiller - 5/13/2022, 5:48 PM
@bkmeijer1 - Disney Star Wars is just fan-fiction. And JJ Abrams is the same kind of hack as Michael Bay. They both just care about visuals and fan service. When Abrams took his shit on Star Trek, he dumbed it down also. So you had intergalactic transporters. Kirk's arc was the Officer Mahoney arc from Police Academy. Abrams' Spock really had no rules. The Enterprise could escape a black hole.

So Abrams changed Force users to make them into instant, fully formed super heroes like we see in the MCU.
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 5/13/2022, 6:12 PM
@PartyKiller - I'm not gonna stand for this injustice. Michael Bay is a great director and you can't convince me otherwise. That man can dream up action set pieces I long remember after.

To this day, the whole infiltration of Chicago in Dark of the Moon is still great. Skydiving into a city where a massive transformer worm is toppling down buildings, JJ Abrams doesn't come close to that.
ForceofWakanda
ForceofWakanda - 5/12/2022, 5:13 PM
The lightsaber battles in the prequels were pretty silly tho lol

Always felt like kids playing around with toys other than maybe the finale of Phantom Menace
Urubrodi
Urubrodi - 5/12/2022, 5:15 PM
@ForceofWakanda - Let's agree to disagree on that one. The battles in the prequels are way above originals/sequels.
ForceofWakanda
ForceofWakanda - 5/12/2022, 5:31 PM
@Urubrodi -

In the prequels it just didn't seem like they were actually trying to strike each other with the sabers and moreso dance with each other lol
amesjazz
amesjazz - 5/12/2022, 5:43 PM
@ForceofWakanda - I agree. Lightsaber battles should be more like Luke vs Vader in empire. Scary and intense.
Pssst
Pssst - 5/12/2022, 5:49 PM
@ForceofWakanda - Agree 100%. The end battle on Phantom Menace was a highlight, but after that they were just doing unnecessary flips and swinging the sabers around like it was a circus performance or something. I remember the Yoda fights to be particularly funny.
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 5/12/2022, 5:17 PM
So a lot of unnecessary lightsaber swinging? Gotcha

That said, they were better than the clunky ones from the originals (except for the Vader/Luke one in VI). And speaking of Vader and Luke, I really like what I'm hearing about the place Vader is in according to Christensen.
GhostDog
GhostDog - 5/12/2022, 5:22 PM
The battles in the prequels had a balletic choreography I appreciated. I was just never a fan of how weightless the lightsabers seemed. I think you can still achieve some aspect of that graceful swordplay feel without losing the fact that these weapons have weight to them

Duel of the Fates battle still hits
generictheeric
generictheeric - 5/12/2022, 5:23 PM
Obligatory:

abd00bie
abd00bie - 5/12/2022, 5:32 PM
@generictheeric - Still more memorable than anything in the ST lol
TheWalkingCuban
TheWalkingCuban - 5/12/2022, 5:26 PM
I’m starting to realize that because I’m not a Star Wars guy I love the Star Wars shows, and because I am a marvel guy I hate the marvel shows. Either that or they are objectively good and bad. But illustrate my point, I don’t see what the big deal was with Boba, and save your breath: I liked it. All except for the fair ride motorcycles
AmazingFILMporg
AmazingFILMporg - 5/12/2022, 5:29 PM
@TheWalkingCuban -


Just differnt taste.



These franchises have become so big that there's something for everyone.


Marvel shows are well reviewed by fans and critics but some sectors of the internet fandom don't like them. That's cool. Just keep perspective. Not everyone will love everything 🙂
TheWalkingCuban
TheWalkingCuban - 5/12/2022, 5:40 PM
@AmazingFILMporg - Agreed, it’s not like I don’t like anything on the marvel shows, and I like Wandavision I just mean four out of five I do not love or out right dislike
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 5/12/2022, 6:24 PM
@TheWalkingCuban - I guess its because of having some certain pre-established knowledge that influence your expectations.

That's why I was so hyped for Shang-Chi and Moon Knight. My knowledge of their comic history is pretty much zero, so for a change it felt like I too was going blind into it.
TheWalkingCuban
TheWalkingCuban - 5/12/2022, 7:06 PM
@bkmeijer1 - Yeah either you go in expecting a lot and you’re disappointed or expecting nothing and you are appointed.
ModHaterSLADE
ModHaterSLADE - 5/12/2022, 5:35 PM
Good. Despite its faults the prequel trilogy had some nice duels.
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