Hayden Christensen played Anakin Skywalker in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, taking the Jedi from hero to hated villain in a very short space of time. It's now been over 17 years since the actor last got to play the character, but he'll once again don Darth Vader's imposing armour in Obi-Wan Kenobi this May (we're also expecting to see him de-aged for some Anakin-centric flashbacks).
Entertainment Weekly asked Christensen how he prepared for his return, and the actor confirmed he turned to Anakin's animated adventures to get up to speed on the Sith Lord's storied history.
"I went back and rewatched all the films," he recalls. "And I also got into the animated shows, The Clone Wars and Rebels. It was interesting. They did a lot with these characters in those shows. And they did further explore the relationship. There was interesting stuff there to learn about."
"It was great fun getting to go back and re-immerse yourself in this world that just continues to grow and become more and more vast," Christensen added. Much of The Clone Wars was devoted to Obi-Wan's relationship with Anakin, of course, so we're not surprised the actor found them of use. He's also set to appear in Ahsoka, so both shows should come in handy for that series too!
Ewan McGregor was also asked about his preparation, and the movies were similarly key for him. "I watched them from start to finish. All nine movies. Just to get back in that world. It was interesting to watch our films because I hadn't seen them since they came out. It was cool to see and interesting to watch them and enjoy them without all of the noise that was around when they came out."
While these comments don't necessarily offer any clues as to how much Obi-Wan Kenobi will explore what happened during The Clone Wars, it's exciting to know that series holds some importance here. Fans have been dreaming about seeing McGregor and Christensen in live-action versions of those uniforms, but this hopefully points to an in-depth exploration of their relationship and how what they've been through informs the long-awaited rematch between the Jedi Master and Sith Lord.
Obi-Wan Kenobi premieres on Disney+ with its first two episode on May 27.
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