One of the most exciting announcements from Star Wars Celebration is the return of Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker in Season 2 of *Ahsoka*. Following this thrilling reveal, we had the privilege of sitting down with Christensen to discuss his return to the role after nearly two decades, his affinity for the darker aspects of the Star Wars universe, and his favorite Anakin meme.
We kicked off our conversation by exploring what other Anakin stories Christensen would be interested in bringing to life. He expressed a strong desire to delve deeper into the Clone Wars era, a period that has largely been explored through animation, where Matt Lanter voiced the character. "I know my friend Ewan would be game for that as well," Christensen added. "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."
While fans would love to see this happen, Christensen acknowledges it would "require a little bit of aging" magic to pull off. However, this doesn't dampen his enthusiasm for the character. "I love this character," Christensen 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."
Our discussion then shifted to *Revenge of the Sith*, which is set to celebrate its 20th anniversary on May 19, 2025. This film is considered one of the darkest in the franchise, and Christensen appreciates when Star Wars isn't afraid to delve into challenging themes. "George Lucas made some very bold choices and I love that he did that," Christensen said. "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 nearly 20 years, Christensen shared, "Of course it feels different. I'm different. 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."
As we wrapped up our conversation, we touched on the ongoing debate about the ideal viewing order for the Star Wars films. Christensen offered a balanced perspective: "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 numerous Anakin memes and if he has a favorite. While he's seen the infamous sand meme countless times and enjoys the one featuring him and Padmé in the field, his current favorite is a meme where Emperor Palpatine begs Anakin not to let Mace Windu kill him, and Anakin responds, "He's just reflecting your lightning back you... just stop shooting lightning!"
