Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is being released to impossibly high expectations. It’s not just the conclusion of Disney’s Sequel Trilogy, but bills itself as the final conclusion to the Skywalker saga that began back in 1977. As such, audiences expect the film to provide some serious closure to the whole franchise, not just the last two movies, and there’s long been talk that we’d see the return of classic characters from the series’ history. But now, we’ve gotten authoritative word that someone rumored to appear in the movie for years will indeed be showing up.
According to sources close to WGTC – the same ones who told us Ewan McGregor was returning as Obi-Wan back in May, and who revealed Rey and Palpatine’s special connection in the film, which has since been confirmed – Hayden Christensen’s Anakin Skywalker will be appearing in the pic. It’s important to stress, though, that we don’t know in what capacity he’ll be seen.
It could be a full-on cameo with the actor reprising the role as a Force Ghost, or it could be re-using footage from the prequels in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it flashback. After all, the Sequel Trilogy does have precedent for using previous Star Wars characters in very subtle ways, like how McGregor’s Obi-Wan made a super-secret audio cameo in The Force Awakens.
Knowing what we do about the Emperor returning from the dead and his grandchild Kylo Ren meeting him though, Anakin’s return makes sense. I would assume that, just as with Anakin and Luke, the Emperor is set to try and seduce Kylo with promises of power. Who else could convince Ren not to give into him other than Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, who he clearly idolizes?
Either way, I’m pleased that Disney is opening themselves up to actors returning from the prequels. Regardless of your opinions of them, it’s safe to say that they didn’t allow the talented cast to perform at the top of their abilities. Let’s hope that if we do get a substantial reappearance of Christensen’s Anakin in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, it allows him to leave the role with a better performance than he gave in Revenge of the Sith.