Hayden Christensen was “thrilled” to play Anakin Skywalker again in Star Wars: Ahsoka

The most recent episode of Star Wars: Ahsoka, “Shadow Warrior,” featured a very special guest: Hayden Christensen, who played Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars prequel trilogy back in the late ’90s and early ’00s.

At the end of the prequel trilogy, Anakin turned into Darth Vader. He played that role again nearly 20 years later in the Obi-Wan Kenobi miniseries on Disney+. Now, he’s returned as Anakin in Ahsoka.

Granted, he wasn’t back back, running around in the real world with our lead characters. He kind of turned up as a memory ghost while Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) was having a vision quest experience in the World Between Worlds. Still, for Star Wars fans who watched Anakin train Ahsoka in the ways of the Jedi on the animated show Star Wars: The Clone Wars, it was a big deal.

Hayden Christensen feels “very grateful” to be able to play Anakin Skywalker again

Speaking in a behind-the-scenes featurette, Christensen talked about getting called back into action as Anakin. “When I got the phone call to talk about being a part of the Ahsoka project, I was thrilled,” he said. “Putting on the Anakin costume, getting to wear those Jedi robes, it kind of blows your mind every time. I just feel very grateful.”

Rosario Dawson weighed in on this character reunion as well. “It was amazing to have Ahsoka and Anakin back together again,” she said. “I met Hayden when I was 16. We were in an acting school together over a summer. To have that kind of history with him, it really was like seeing my old friend.”

"It just was really really powerful for Ahsoka to see her guard come down…You know her as a stoic, super-powerful, on top of it warrior, and all of a sudden, she’s [a] padawan again."

And then there’s the man who brought them together: Dave Filoni, the man who oversaw The Clone Wars and who is now the closest thing the Star Wars universe has to a Kevin Feige-like over-boss. It’s not a stretch to say that he created the character of Ahsoka Tano in the first place, so of course he would want to revisit those memories. “You know, as I was figuring out the story for Ahsoka, I just really thought, ‘Well, there’s an opportunity,'” Filoni said. “‘I could bring Anakin and Ahsoka together.’ It’s just awesome.”

It looks like Anakin’s appearance will be a one-time thing, unless Ahsoka slips back into the World Between Worlds. It was definitely nice to see him again. As for Ahsoka, her adventures will continue in a new episode dropping tonight!

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