MOVIE NEWS – Deborah Chow, who directed all six episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi, has spoken out about her thoughts on the return of Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader in the upcoming Disney+ series.

Obi-Wan Kenobi director Deborah Chow first joined Star Wars in Mandalorian Season 1, directing two episodes of the series. Lucasfilm was so impressed with her work in such a short time that she was hired back to direct six episodes of the Kenobi series (which might even be a tie-in to Jedi: Fallen Order), written by Joby Harold (Army of the Dead). The much-anticipated series premiere is just a month away, on the 45th anniversary of the launch of Star Wars: A New Hope on May 25.

For the first time, the series will see the return of Ewan McGregor as the titular Jedi Master. Set 10 years after Order 66, Obi-Wan now lives on Tatooine and cares for young Luke Skywalker at Lars’ farm, where he is raised by Owen (Joel Edgerton) and Beru Lars (Bonnie Piesse). The prequel trilogy also sees the return of Hayden Christensen, who played Obi-Wan’s former padawan Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, who became a Sith Lord. However, many questions remain about the return of the iconic villain.

In a conversation with Entertainment Weekly, Chow explained the basis for the decision to bring back the Dark Lord. While there were initially many opinions on the matter, the limited series format ultimately offered the perfect opportunity to tell a “character-centric” story about Vader, which Chow felt was too good an opportunity to pass up. As he put it:

“Honestly, for me the starting place was that I really wanted to do something that was character-based and character-driven, because that is the benefit of the limited series, is that you have more time to sort of tell a real character story. And so for me, the starting place of character is you just start and you look at who has been important to him in his life. And it’s quite hard to avoid Anakin/Vader in that scenario, especially coming out of Revenge of the Sith.”

“So really it came out of an evolution of the character for me. It wasn’t just to sort of bring him back. It was really like, who means something and where are we at this point in the timeline with Vader?”

Chow went on to talk about what audiences can expect from Vader in the Obi-Wan series, which picks up a decade after he first donned the black armour at the end of Revenge of the Sith:

“So he isn’t the New Hope Vader quite yet, you know what I mean? So we are with the character sort of in the middle of this period. It is still Vader obviously, but it’s a Vader that isn’t quite as fully formed as A New Hope.”

Still, much is unclear about Vader’s involvement in the series, as he was absent from the trailer, and only his difficult breathing can be heard. Although Lucasfilm will likely keep Vader’s full involvement under wraps, the various inquisitors in the series are featured in the trailer, suggesting that they will be the main villains. Only time will tell, as the Obi-Wan Kenobi series is only a month away…

Source: Entertainment Weekly