Summary

Hayden Christensen initially felt like he was “cheating” on George Lucas by playing Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader without his direct involvement. The actor praises the franchise’s embrace of new creative voices but stresses that all of it is still done with a reverence for Lucas and what he would want for Star Wars. Dave Filoni is the closest thing the franchise has to Lucas’ continued involvement, and his recent promotion to Lucasfilm CCO suggests that the original creator’s legacy will live on for years to come.

Star Wars star Hayden Christensen shares his thoughts on how it feels to play Anakin Skywalker/ Darth Vader without George Lucas. Christensen first brought Anakin to life in 2002 in the second of Lucas’ prequel trilogy movies. After seemingly bidding farewell to the character after fully transforming into Darth Vader in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, the actor would reprise the role for Disney Plus shows like Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka.

Now, during a recent interview on Dagobah Dispatch: An EW Star Wars Podcast, Christensen discusses how feels returning to a galaxy far, far, away without Lucas’ direct involvement. While the actor praises how the franchise embraced new creative voices, he stresses that Lucas is still top of mind for everyone involved. Check out Christensen’s full comment below:

“At first I felt like I was cheating on him a little bit. But no, it’s a different time for Star Wars now, and I think it’s really exciting that we now have this period where there are other storytellers coming in and giving their take on the universe. But of course, it all goes back to the Maker, and George Lucas is very much at the front of everyone’s mind when we’re making a decision, we want to make stuff that he would be happy with for sure.”

Star Wars Will Never Truly Move Beyond George Lucas

Lucas is, of course, the man responsible for birthing the franchise’s vast universe, writing and directing A New Hope in 1977 and earning screenplay and/ or story credits on its two sequels. While Lucas’ wouldn’t write or direct anything in the franchise after the divisive Star Wars prequel trilogy, he would remain a key creative voice for the universe moving forward. He would, for example, serve as an executive producer on Star Wars: The Clone Wars, playing a key role in determining the show’s creative direction for the first handful of seasons.

Now 79 years old, Lucas doesn’t play an active role in developing new Star Wars projects, but he is held in high regard by the people who do. Nowhere is this more evident than with Dave Filoni, who was mentored by Lucas during their time working on The Clone Wars together. Filoni’s writing and directing style is arguably the closest to Lucas’ out of any other creator working on the franchise, and it’s on full display in Ahsoka.

In an interview with EW in summer 2022, Filoni would describe his time working with Lucas as a “masterclass” and the “Jedi experience,” before affirming that his “biggest responsibility now, is to try to explain to people what George explained to me about why this all works, why it’s different and unique from any other fantasy series or fiction out there.”

With Filoni having now been promoted to chief creative officer at Lucasfilm, he will essentially be shepherding the Star Wars franchise moving forward, ensuring that Lucas’ vision is honored with each subsequent expansion. Even outside of Filoni’s involvement, however, the franchise’s whole identity is tied to creative decisions that Lucas made over 45 years ago on A New Hope. Although Star Wars is sure to continue to evolve in the years ahead, removing Lucas’ creative footprint at this point would be an impossible task.

Source: Dagobah Dispatch: An EW Star Wars Podcast