“A lot of my conversations with Deborah [Chow] were about wanting to convey this feeling of strength, but also coupled with imprisonment. There is this power and vulnerability, and I think that’s an interesting space to explore.” — Hayden Christensen
Are you ready for a more relatable, emotional and, dare he say it, vulnerable Darth Vader? The foreboding and stoic Vader of Episodes 4-6 plus Rogue One may be a different villain than is prepared for us in the Obi-Wan Kenobi live action series for Disney+ coming this month. According to various sources, Darth Vader in this series is going to be more “layered.” According to one source, there has been an intention with developing the character for Disney+ so that Vader aligns more with Kylo Ren and his emotionalism in the sequel trilogy.
Is this a horrible thing? Is it a stroke of brilliance? I suppose that depends on what you want out of a Darth Vader appearance, as well as how this is portrayed in the final product.
From The Mary Sue:
For Deborah Chow, bringing Vader back was important to the story of Kenobi. As we learned in the prequels, the two loved each other. They were “brothers,” as Kenobi screamed to a burning Anakin on Mustafar. “For me, across the prequels, through the original trilogy, there’s a love-story dynamic with these two that goes through the whole thing,” Chow said. “I felt like it was quite hard to not [include] the person who left Kenobi in such anguish in the series.”
But she also went on to talk about just how important that relationship was to the prequels and why it was necessary to have it represented again in Obi-Wan Kenobi. “I don’t know how you could not,” she said. “I don’t think he ever will not care about him. What’s special about that relationship is that they loved each other.”
There are two concurrent themes playing out behind the scenes at Lucasfilm and Disney regarding Obi-Wan Kenobi. First, leadership seems confident that Kenobi is going to be a very successful and popular series on Disney+. They’re betting much on it. Taking on Stranger Things head-to-head with not one, but two, debut episodes is sure to create an immediate contrast. Who will win, Disney or Netflix? Clearly, Disney wouldn’t have made a date change unless they felt they could do very well, even if they don’t ultimately win in the ratings.
Beyond the confidence Disney leadership must feel about a property that will affect advertising revenues later in the year, another theme that seems to be boiling up is an attempt to retcon the original trilogy with this newest Star Wars entry. Already we know that the established lore of A New Hope in which Obi-Wan and Vader had not faced each other in a long time is going to be reduced to about ten-to-fifteen years. But also, this very much feels like it has Kathleen Kennedy’s continued efforts to justify the sequel trilogy written all over it. If an attempt is made to turn Darth Vader into a more emotional villain in order to create a connection between his persona and the Kylo Ren grandson character created by Disney, there is sure to be a divisive reaction by the fans.
Director Deborah Chow had entirely emotional reasons for wanting Hayden Christensen back in the role of Vader for the #ObiWan Kenobi TV series. https://t.co/zPWhq2dqsk
— Tor.com (Now at @Reactormag) (@tordotcom) May 17, 2022
There is a caveat to the potential division. If Deborah Chow and the mind trust at Lucasfilm, essentially Dave Filoni, are able to thread the needle in presenting a new side of Lord Vader that is true to the original design… that could be genius. Threading that needle won’t be easy, however, and should the show do damage to the original trilogy or the main characters of Obi-Wan and Anakin, it may be the last straw for a fanbase that is weary of Disney’s Star Wars attempts.
The Book of Boba Fett never even came close to the billion minutes watched mark used by observers tracking Nielsen ratings to determine a streaming juggernaut. Obi-Wan Kenobi needs to reverse that trend or it won’t just be Vader feeling negative emotions.
For all the news that should be fun, That Park Place is your place for all the latest. As always, drop a comment down below and let us know your thoughts on a more emotional Vader portrayal!
Anyone who’s read any of the expanded universe stuff should know that Vader’s post-Mustafar existence is actually quite tortured, both physically and emotionally.
Rogue One touched on it ever so briefly. There’s absolutely material to explore here.
Anakin’s emotions, which were a big part of his downfall, aren’t simply going to disappear with the presence of the mask.
As with all things, it will really depend on the execution.
I’m glad Disney is betting big on Kenobi because it’ll be a bigger flop. Darth Vadar needs to be badass. Otherwise we’ll get a Betta Fett 2. We saw Vader’s weak side already. He doesn’t like sand and its coarse and gets everywhere. Send him back to Tatooine.
IMO Early Vader would be a bit more wounded and tortured than ‘mature’ leader Vader in the OT. Don’t think he’d be a whiny temper tantrum Kylo Ren however. He should be more inline with Revenge of the Sith Anakin than Kylo. If they do try and tie him to Kylo, in some desperate attempt to give the Sequel Trilogy legitimacy, then they’ll turn off whatever remaining fans they have.
I do find it interesting that in the last investor call they classified Star Wars (Classic) vs (New). Guess they want to be able to differentiate the metrics?
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Star Wars cannot recover under the current people that are in charge. Change out the leadership, and then then brand can heal, but it won’t be overnight. Favreau’s group and Feloni can stay, but the rest (Story Group, Publishing, PR, etc) need to be shown the door.
Someone explain to me what Disney/Lucasfilm hopes to achieve by making Vader more like Kylo………. you have never seen them try to make Luke more like Rey. This makes zero sense.
I’m not sure that making Vader more like Kylo is the goal necessarily. It’s a worry they might, when they say they’re making Vader ’emotional’ and ‘relatable’. Guess we will have to see if Debra Chow and Faverau/Feloni let us down or not.
It’s sad we even have to worry about such things.