The ongoing debate about Anakin Skywalker’s true origins has found a surprising new development in a recent pair of tweets from regular Star Wars voice actor Sam Witwer.
Though many fans have long assumed that Anakin’s birth was a miracle of the Force, a series of panels from the Darth Vader comic spread the rumor earlier this year that a certain Sheev Palpatine had a hand in creating his future apprentice.
In the comic, we see what appears to be Palpatine using his power to manipulate the development of Anakin inside his mother Shmi, making Sheev essentially the closest thing the young Skywalker had to a biological father.
Looking at these panels in the context of the comic, however, skeptical fans have argued that the sequence is more a depiction of what Anakin suspects might’ve happened than what actually did happen. And sure enough, just a few days ago, Lucasfilm Story Group member Matt Martin confirmed via social media that the panels were only intended to show what the character was imagining.
But while some fans would’ve taken Martin’s comments as the final word on the matter, it seems the theorists now have a prominent new ally in Sam Witwer. Taking to Twitter, the actor responsible for the voice of Maul in The Clone Wars and Solo: A Star Wars Story had this to say:
“Palpatine quite possibly was responsible for Anakin’s birth.
Come at me story group.
And Merry Christmas!”
Though a commenter soon pointed out that Martin already shut down this theory, Witwer stuck to his guns, replying:
“And I disagree with him. George put it in his movie. :)”
Indeed, George Lucas did put this twist in an early draft of Revenge of the Sith, though the actual film never confirms it either way. Perhaps this is one matter that’s best left to the fans to decide for themselves, though given how much Disney likes to hop around the Star Wars timeline for their various projects, it’s not unthinkable that we’ll some day have an official answer.
