Hayden Christensen announces return as Anakin Skywalker in 'Ahsoka' Season 2

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TOKYO — Hayden Christensen thrilled fans at Star Wars Celebration when he confirmed that he’ll be returning as Anakin Skywalker for Ahsoka’s second season.

“There’s not much I can share, but Anakin will be back for Season 2,” Christensen said at the biennial event, alongside Ahsoka star Rosario Dawson, creator Dave Filoni and executive producer Jon Favreau.

The Disney+ show, which starts shooting its second season later this week, centres on Jedi Master-turned-Sith Overlord Anakin’s former apprentice Ahsoka Tano (Dawson), who originally appeared in creator George Lucas’ animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars film and TV series.

The Vancouver native made his debut as Anakin Skywalker (who later becomes Darth Vader) in 2002’s Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones and its 2005 follow-up, Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith. He reprised both Skywalker and Darth Vader opposite Ewan McGregor in 2022’s Obi-Wan Kenobi. His character later returned for two episodes of Ahsoka’s first season.

Christensen said it was a “dream” to get to return as the fearsome Star Wars villain once again. “The way that they conceived of doing it was brilliant in getting to explore the World Between Worlds. Having Anakin sort of take Ahsoka down the yellow brick road of her memories, I just thought it was really exciting,” he said.

Playing this version of Anakin, who we meet before the events of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, allows him to dive deeper into a part of the fallen Jedi’s life that he never got to explore earlier.

“It’s a very compelling period in Anakin’s life that we never got to see in live-action,” he said. “I remember when we were going to do Episode III having conversations with George Lucas about what Anakin was up to between II and III and he was talking to me about the Clone Wars how he was this great warrior and a leader … and how well it was presented in the animated world. I was really excited to do that in live action.”

Christensen also joked that he liked the character’s new look in Ahsoka. “As much as I love the traditional Jedi robes that we exclusively wore during the prequels, it was nice to see Anakin with a new look,” he said to thunderous applause.

Filoni said after he met Christensen at an earlier Star Wars Celebration he had to “figure out a way” to work with him.

“Many years went by and I finally a found a way,” Filoni said. “I had to invent entire dimensions to make it happen, but it happened and it was awesome .”

Filoni admitted bringing back Christensen as Anakin was “a big deal.”

“That is George’s guy and I was so grateful to have you there to make sure we sailed the right path,” he said. “That led us to create an authentic interpretation of what he was up to.”

Dawson said Anakin’s reappearance added weight to Ahsoka’s own story and deepened the significance of her reluctance to be a mentor to Grogu when she made her live-action debut in The Mandalorian. “I loved seeing you be there and show this other side to (Anakin) that is not something people have felt,” she said.

Season 1 followed Ahsoka as she investigated an emerging threat to a vulnerable galaxy being orchestrated by the fallen Jedi Knight Baylan Skoll (played by the late Ray Stevenson).

Game of Thrones‘ Rory McCann will take over as the evil Jedi after Stevenson’s death in 2023.

Filoni said he wrestled with how to continue with the character after Stevenson’s memorable portrayal. But after his conversations with the late actor’s family, he found a way to continue Baylan’s arc. 

“I’m very confident now that Ray would be happy with the direction that we’ve chosen … The character is meant to be the parallel to Ahsoka in every way. If there’s a light, there’s a dark … That’s a parallel that must continue,” said Filoni.

Also, Admiral Ackbar (the famed military commander from Return of the Jedi) is set to return.

“It took all of my effort to resist writing the line — ‘It’s a trap!’ Because this guy can’t always get into traps. You’d think he would see it this time,” Filoni quipped.

Filoni, who worked with Lucas on his animated shows before becoming the franchise’s live-action architect on Disney+, said that he has tried to create stories that work even if you know nothing about Star Wars.

“I try to design every show so that you don’t have to see anything else. People think because I’ve been at Lucasfilm for 20 years they have to see all this stuff. But if you watch the first season of Ahsoka, it’s no different than when you pop into (Episode IV) A New Hope and Obi-Wan is mentioning a clone war and Anakin Skywalker and all these things,” he said. “It’s a way of telling a story that you’re coming in during the middle of it.”

Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) will also return as the series’ main antagonist. Originally introduced in author Timothy Zahn’s post Return of the Jedi novel Heir to the Empire, Filoni said he is the ultimate bad guy because he “doesn’t have the force, but holds his own against everybody.”

Also at Star Wars Celebration, Disney announced a new animated series centred on iconic Star Wars villain Darth Maul, teased the final season of Andor, dropped the surprise news of Shawn Levy and Ryan Gosling’s upcoming Star Wars film and showed off a sizzle reel for next summer’s The Mandalorian & Grogu.

mdaniell@postmedia.com