Hayden Christensen Rumored To Return As Darth Vader In Star Wars: Episode VIII

[Dead2009]

http://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/...ed-return-darth-vader-star-wars-episode-viii/

Are the new Star Wars movies about to jump the shark? Ever since it was announced, there have been almost countless rumours about J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: The Force Awakens, including one very interesting claim that the franchise will utilize flashbacks for the first time with a scene featuring Darth Vader.

We haven’t heard anything about that in a while, as speculation has mostly centred on the iconic villain making an appearance in Gareth Edwards’ Star Wars: Rogue One. But, now a new report reveals that while that’s a very real possibility, it’s actually more likely that Vader will return in Rian Johnson’s Star Wars Episode VIII. Oh, and the real kicker here is that he’ll be played by a returning Hayden Christensen.

The actor received mixed reviews for his performance as Anakin Skywalker in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, but donned the iconic costume in the closing moments of the latter. It sounds like this will be a little more than that though, as the site adds that, “a team in the U.K. are soon heading to the U.S. to begin training Hayden Christensen.”

Training? That obviously points to the actor doing more than just standing around in the suit, and there’s a chance that we’ll spend even more time with the one-time Jedi as a young man. Of course, based on the alterations made to Return of the Jedi by George Lucas, there’s nothing to say he won’t show up as a force ghost either. Surely Disney aren’t going to resurrect him, right?

 

[lebeau]

That's a heck of a spoiler you just put in the title of your thread. I'll be bummed if it's true and I found out here.

 

[216bruce]

http://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/...ed-return-darth-vader-star-wars-episode-viii/

The most 'wooden' actor and performance since Pinocchio.

 

[Phroobar]

Except Hayden will be completely CG and his voice dubed. The producers are hoping they can get better acting out a CG character than the real thing.

 

[Arthur Wellesley]

Has to be a joke.

Throwing Hayden into the new trilogy would be as if millions of Star Wars fan's voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.

 

[Bairstow]

I was angry for a moment, then realized that Hayden's actually a decent actor when he's not being directed or scripted by Lucas.
It'll probably be fine.

 

[RandomPrincess]

I was angry for a moment, then realized that Hayden's actually a decent actor when he's not being directed or scripted by Lucas.
It'll probably be fine.

I agree look how horrible Natalie Portman was.

 

[champdisney]

Either a flashback, force ghost or a clone. Pick your poison. Either way I'm all for bringing Vader back as long as it's done in a safe, smart and organic way.

 

[danlb_2000]

The most 'wooden' actor and performance since Pinocchio.

Hayden isn't to bad when he has a strong director guiding him. He was actually nominated for a Golden Globe for Life as a House.

 

[Arthur Wellesley]

I like Vader as much as the next person, but I personally hope they focus more on Kylo Ren's story as a villain/anti hero in this new trilogy. I surely hope they don't make the same mistake Lucas made with Darth Maul...and kill off a very marketable bad guy after only one film. Of course with Maul, there wasn't really much complexity with his character other than he was a cool, quiet bada** with a nifty lightsaber who could fight well.

But with Kylo, I hope the stretch his character out over the course of the entire trilogy, as was Vader in Ep 4-6.
Vader has already had his story told; he's had his moment in the spotlight. Sure, I don't mind the occasional reference to the character in the new trilogy, or even a slight flashback if done well. But as far as cloning him? Not sure how I would feel about that.

 

[danlb_2000]

I like Vader as much as the next person, but I personally hope they focus more on Kylo Ren's story as a villain/anti hero in this new trilogy. I surely hope they don't make the same mistake Lucas made with Darth Maul...and kill off a very marketable bad guy after only one film. Of course with Maul, there wasn't really much complexity with his character other than he was a cool, quiet bada** with a nifty lightsaber who could fight well.

But with Kylo, I hope the stretch his character out over the course of the entire trilogy, as was Vader in Ep 4-6.
Vader has already had his story told; he's had his moment in the spotlight. Sure, I don't mind the occasional reference to the character in the new trilogy, or even a slight flashback if done well. But as far as cloning him? Not sure how I would feel about that.

They did some great stuff with Maul in the Clone Wars series.

 

[TB4244]

I still want Thrawn in the sequels.

But I do hope they don't kill off Ren like they did Maul, that was a waste and as much as I liked Christopher Lee he was no replacement for Ray Park's sabre twirling or menace (phantom or not).

 

[Phroobar]

Hayden isn't to bad when he has a strong director guiding him. He was actually nominated for a Golden Globe for Life as a House.

That's the problem. He has to be directed to give a semi-decent performance. A really good actor can do a great job even with minimal direction.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

I doubt there's much truth to this rumor. But either way, lets not pretend that it's Hayden's fault for his performance in the films. It's not a situation like Jake Lloyd (who legitimately IS a bad actor and horrible choice for Anakin regardless of the script/director). As stated, Hayden is NOT actually a bad actor at all under better circumstances. He's quite capable under the influence of a decent script and competent director. George Lucas was the problem with his performance. And even with Lucas' influence dragging him down, there are occasions where his talent shines through the mess.

This video has a good explanation of what i'm talking about, even justifying his casting as Anakin. It's a top 11 lists of things that were actually GOOD about the prequels, reasons number 5 and 6 have some very good points and examples of why he's an otherwise good choice (WARNING STRONG LANGUAGE)-


There's plenty of otherwise fantastic actors in the films, but there's just not much you can do when all of your lines read like pre-teen Twilight fanfiction and your director doesn't know what they're doing. Can you imagine ANY actor being able to pull off Anakin's romantic lines from Episode 2? I certainly can't. Even Oscar-caliber actors such as Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Samuel Jackson and Natalie Portman are struggling with the mess they've been provided to act their way through. To their credit trying their best and also have their moments as well (Ewan McGregor was pretty much a perfect casting choice as Obi Wan). Even awesome James Earl Jones sounds ridiculous and undignified being forced to whine about Padme.

The only thoroughly enjoyable performance is Ian McDiarmid as Palpatine, and not because he has a fantastic script or direction. As a classically trained theater actor, he doesn't even need much direction to nail a performance. But he also just seemed to embrace the cheese and looks like he's having a ton of fun with the role.

 

[216bruce]

I doubt there's much truth to this rumor. But either way, lets not pretend that it's Hayden's fault for his performance in the films. It's not a situation like Jake Lloyd (who legitimately IS a bad actor and horrible choice for Anakin regardless of the script/director). As stated, Hayden is NOT actually a bad actor at all under better circumstances. He's quite capable under the influence of a decent script and competent director. George Lucas was the problem with his performance. And even with Lucas' influence dragging him down, there are occasions where his talent shines through the mess.

This video has a good explanation of what i'm talking about, even justifying his casting as Anakin. It's a top 11 lists of things that were actually GOOD about the prequels, reasons number 5 and 6 have some very good points and examples of why he's an otherwise good choice (WARNING STRONG LANGUAGE)-


There's plenty of otherwise fantastic actors in the films, but there's just not much you can do when all of your lines read like pre-teen Twilight fanfiction and your director doesn't know what they're doing. Can you imagine ANY actor being able to pull off Anakin's romantic lines from Episode 2? I certainly can't. Even Oscar-caliber actors such as Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Samuel Jackson and Natalie Portman are struggling with the mess they've been provided to act their way through. To their credit trying their best and also have their moments as well (Ewan McGregor was pretty much a perfect casting choice as Obi Wan). Even awesome James Earl Jones sounds ridiculous and undignified being forced to whine about Padme.

The only thoroughly enjoyable performance is Ian McDiarmid as Palpatine, and not because he has a fantastic script or direction. As a classically trained theater actor, he doesn't even need much direction to nail a performance. But he also just seemed to embrace the cheese and looks like he's having a ton of fun with the role.

Good points. The dialogue was pretty horrible and the romantic scenes were cringe-worthy.

 

[Arthur Wellesley]

The only thoroughly enjoyable performance is Ian McDiarmid as Palpatine

I cannot agree with this enough. Ian was excellent in the prequels! You could tell he was having a blast with his role the entire time. And quite honestly, as the character goes, I thought he was more sinister & well-developed as Palpatine before becoming the full-fledged deformed emperor we've all come to know.

The worst type of evil in the world is that of a smiling face, telling you what you want to hear...patting you on the back as they secretly want your downfall. I got to hand it to Lucas for writing that character brilliantly, and making him the manipulative, sly character that you'd expect from his early days.

Ian owned that role with perfection.