“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.
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