Hayden Christensen Discusses Anakin Skywalker's Return in Ahsoka and Embracing Dark 'Star Wars' - Star Wars 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 opportunity to sit down with Christensen to discuss his return to the role after nearly 20 years, his appreciation for the darker aspects of Star Wars, and even his favorite Anakin meme.

Our conversation kicked off with a discussion about other Anakin stories Christensen would like to see on screen. He expressed a keen interest in exploring more of the Clone Wars era, a period that has mostly been covered in animated form by Matt Lanter. "I would love to get to do some more of the Clone Wars-era," Christensen shared. He also mentioned that his friend Ewan McGregor would be interested in revisiting this period as well. "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."

Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker in Ahsoka. Image Credit: Lucasfilm

While the idea of returning to the Clone Wars era would require some "aging" magic, Christensen remains enthusiastic about continuing to explore Anakin's story, including delving deeper into the Darth Vader timeline. "I love this character," he emphasized. "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 approach the 20th anniversary of Revenge of the Sith on May 19, 2025, our conversation shifted to this film, which remains one of the darkest entries in the Star Wars franchise. Christensen appreciates when Star Wars tackles challenging themes. "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 nearly two decades, Christensen noted a deeper connection to Anakin. "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."

We also touched on the ongoing debate about the optimal viewing order for the Star Wars films. Christensen remains neutral on this topic. "Not really," he said. "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."

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