Monday, September 21, 2015

Rumor: Hayden Christensen to Appear in Episode VIII

45 comments
By: Dominic Jones

Even though Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens is still 87 days away, the rumors about Star Wars Episode VIII are beginning to heat up.  Our friends over MakingStarWars.net have heard from their sources that one of the more divisive actors in the prequel trilogy appearing in the middle instalment of the sequel trilogy.  Hayden Christensen, who played Anakin Skywalker in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, will apparently be heading to London to appear in the Rian Johnson directed Episode VIII.

According to MSW's source,
A team in the U.K. are soon heading to the U.S. to begin training Hayden Christensen for a Star Wars: Episode VIII appearance of some sort.

I would love to see Christensen come back for Episode VIII.  I know many have issues with his performance in the prequels, but I feel that including him in the sequel trilogy will serve to best tie together the entire saga.  Whatever issues people have with Christensen's performance (and I'll definitely agree there are issues), I would hate to miss out on interesting story points simply to pander to those who hate the prequels. Wouldn't it make an interesting scene to have Force-ghost Anakin Skywalker passing on what he learned over his journey to the dark side (and back) to the next generation of the Skywalker family?  I would love to see that.

The other interesting thing is the way the source worded their message, "begin training" is what stands out to some.  Jason at Making Star Wars ponders, "I have a hard time thinking they would need Christensen to train for Star Wars if he’s simply a ghost. He is still physically fit. To me the rumor almost points towards some resurrection of Darth Vader story idea or perhaps a flashback?"  It does make you wonder, why he would have to train.  I can't say I love the idea of a Vader resurrection, but a flashback would be interesting. Again, the idea of some kind of Force flashback or vision to a next generation Skywalker, featuring Christensen as Anakin/Vader, could serve as a warning of the dark path.

As always, this is just a rumor until confirmed or denied by Lucasfilm or Disney.


Follow The Star Wars Underworld on Twitter @TheSWU for more updates about this story and other breaking Star Wars news.

45 comments:

Unknown said...

Noooooooooooo!!

Unknown said...

I like this rumor!!!! I do not fear the dark side as you do.

chris said...

he has been cloned from dna out of Vader's helmet

blivengo said...

omg an Anakin clone would be so bad lol

I'm definitely on board with a Force vision or dream sequence (I don't like the idea of a generic flashback) that involves Anakin fighting...I think it's clear that Vader definitely plays a larger part in the sequel trilogy than just the object of Kylo Ren's obsession...

Unknown said...

Maybe it would be a recording in a Holocron?

Unknown said...

Hayden Christensen could only act what he was given everyone blames him no one Blames the script.

aj said...

No! This is an awful idea! There is 0 good reasons for Hayden to be in this movie. Luke has had 30 years to talk to him, we don't need to see it! Plus, it makes ZERO sense that young Anikin would show up. Luke has ZERO association with him. If "Anikin" is gonna show up, it should be as an old man. You know what I would hate to miss out on? A good movie because some suck thought it would be a good idea to screw things up! Oh wait...that's already happened 3 (THREE) times. Please not again.

Unknown said...

Yeeeeees!!!

Unknown said...

Impressive. Most impressive

Unknown said...

Impressive. Most impressive

Unknown said...

Ballsy! I love it!

Unknown said...

He could play his own grandchild. I am sure a REAL director can get a good performance out of him.

Unknown said...

I heard it's his battle with the padawans he killed in the temple.
When he leaves the room, one padawan survived and becomes Kylo Rens Father.

Unknown said...

Yesssss I really would love to see him in it.

Daymeon said...

The hate is strong here. Folks will still spend their money.

Unknown said...

The dude is a golden globe nominee and has great reviews for his early, non-Star Wars work. It's clear that he was directed badly by Lucas, and being one of the first mostly green screen cinema endeavors didn't help. Hayden needs redemption after years of not being able to land a good director/script after Episode III. It's unfair that he has had to live with the weight of the prequels when none of the cast (sans Liam Neeson) turned in a good performance.

Unknown said...

This excites me. I really hope we get a Force Ghost or a vision of some type. I will be majorly upset if we don't get to see one in this trilogy.

Unknown said...

Could be interesting if they did the parallel storytelling similar to Godfather II.

Vader the White said...

Unless his acting has improved in the past ten years, I have a bad feeling about this.

tiger84 said...

it would be interesting if its only a flashback(for example some rage/hate moment that anakin had before become darth vader) with no conection to luke in this case

Bryce said...

HELL I am madly in love with Jar Jar Binks... dont tell anyone but I have an engagement ring in my dresserING YES!

Bryce said...

HELL I am madly in love with Jar Jar Binks... dont tell anyone but I have an engagement ring in my dresserING YES!

Anonymous said...

I like this rumor, especially because it seems like Disney has been trying to ignore the Prequels thus far

Unknown said...

This is gonna be like The Last Command and he'll be a clone called Annakin.

Unknown said...

need i remind people of starkiller the clone of Darth Vader's Apprentice

Unknown said...

well at least it is not jar jar binks OMG that would suck so BAD

BadTucker said...

The ren sound so obbesesive they would easily clone him or mess with his ghost in some way.

Unknown said...

OMG YES!!!

Unknown said...

OMG YES!!!

Unknown said...

Even though the prequel trilogy was very criticised I love all star wars films. It's up to the directors and those in charge who the bring in. I personally thought he was good. He did his job and his best

ThePadreTemplar said...

It's not pandering to those of us that hate the prequels. EVERYONE should hate the prequels. They are terrible. They are an embarrassment. They are universally known as the worst three movies on the planet And should be entirely erased from existence. The fact that people claim to enjoy them can only be explained by mild metal retardation or employment at LucasArts. It's just move forward on down the line and forget Jar Jar and the other travesties of cinema ever existed.

Unknown said...

I dont think its a great idea to have him in flesh and blood see him in VIII. It feels like you ignore the originals. Its like what someone said he re above. Its with the story more then 50 years later. Maybe in cameo as flashback. Maybe. But its better if you use him in one of the antology films. By the way i dont ha te hayden or the prequel. Ha te...... only a Smith deals in absolutes

Unknown said...

Smith is sith

Vandal Six said...

Wait, what?, you'd 'like' to see him come back, oh for love of god, if it wasn't for Lucas "oh we're gonna CG all that stuff" that wrecked the prequels Hayden was other abhorrent aspect of the films - Pinocchio was a less wooden actor and he's bloody made of the stuff.

Unknown said...

So many holes in the ghost idea. Following their own canon, Qui-Gonn could not become a visible force ghost because he hadn't completed the training and was only able to speak with others, in spite of being the one who discovered the ability. Yoda and Obi-wan both continued training to become immortal force-spirits and apparently succeeded. We'll assume this is now standard Jedi training and that Luke will be able to "haunt" people should he expire.
Anakin: a mass murderer, never had this training though he immediately becomes a force ghost after Luke gives him a Jedi funeral? even if I drink that koolaid, to grant him a roll as a force ghost 30+ years after seems like a bit of a stretch.

Unknown said...

The words right out of my mouth. Also Anakin shouldn't of had a Force Ghost to begin with and Hayden just made it all horrible as he did with his acting in the prequels

Me said...

Shut Up I am madly in love with Jar Jar Binks... dont tell anyone but I have an engagement ring in my dressering hater

Sasak Leumas said...

Related but not related comment: My issue with the Star Wars Saga is Darth Vader and the prequels made it worse. When Anakin was injured on Mustafar with the battle with Obi-wan, the Emperor decides to put him in an iron lung suit when a few planets away they are cloning baby fetts. Before the prequels, l assumed when Ben mentions the Clone Wars to Luke that the clones were experimentations that went awry and physical aberrations of the force with the Jedis needing to take them down. But when it was shown that cloning for the most part was a stable process there is no reason Vader couldn't have had a clone body with his spirit transferred to the Clone body using Sith Fall Force powers that Palpatine learned from Palgiues. Now with rumor of a clone Vader this will raise the question why wasn't a clone made of Vader when he was injured. I just hope they don't go there.

Sasak Leumas said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

This new trilogy is all about the legacy of Vader! Anakin was a student of the living force and has ALWAYS canonically had a force ghost, even back when it was Shaw playing it. People who think Anakin Skywalker should never appear in star wars just because they don't care for the actor are ridiculous. Do what serves the story! Don't just pander to the internet. Actors can be trained and directors can improve their performance. Even great actors looked wooden in the prequels.

Just my opinion but wouldn't it be better to have Hayden on screen one more time to get another shot to redeem his portrayal of the character then to bury it and have it be a major plot hole? They wouldn't be casting him as the lead or anything (no way I buy any cloning theory) It would be a cameo to retroactively make us care more about Anakin.

W. Hawatky said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
W. Hawatky said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
W. Hawatky said...

yeah i'm with the folks leaning towards this bein a good idea. i don't think anybody could have made the prequel scripts any better purely off acting ability; even liam neeson whose delivery is always typically on point, had a few awkwardly stiff moments in APM that were unwatchable (YOU'RE NO LONGER A SLAAAYVE)

besides, it's too late to have sebastian shaw play anakin force ghost and it'd be stupid to bring in yet ANOTHER person to be the face of the single most important character in the entire story..... so Hayden is far and away the right choice.

as far as plot stuff goes.... i get the retcon beef but what's the big deal? nearly everything in SW is retconned the eff out. sure, it doesn't make sense that anakin would suddenly have force ghost skillz but besides its over-processed mention in clone wars, becoming a force ghost was assumed to be what you did at the end of your jedi life. nothing in the OT ever implied that it was difficult to become a force ghost... if you go by clone wars explanation of communicating from "beyond the veil", then yeah, it gets more complicated as it needs to be learned but we also know that anakin was a ridiculously talented if not underwhelmingly underachieving "prospect"... doin the force ghost thing might not be all that much of a challenge with midichlorian counts off the chart..

so it doesn't matter, is my point. the upside of having communication between anakin and luke far outweighs the matter of retcon when there is already so much retcon in SW

bring on hayden!

Unknown said...

Me encantaría que esto fuera cierto
En Rouge ONE quedaría perfecto en sw8 sólo puedo pensar q sea un fantasma o un flashback,recordemos que sea rumoreado so re elásticas q incluyen ala hija de Carrie Fisher interpretando a ella misma de joven así que...todo puede ser.
Yo lo apruebo

Unknown said...

#hydenreturns

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