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Tag: Darth Vader

  • James Earl Jones No Longer Voicing Darth Vader Himself

    James Earl Jones No Longer Voicing Darth Vader Himself

    James Earl Jones was the one to give Darth Vader his iconic voice ever since the first Star Wars film was released in 1977. Yet, we could still hear his iconic take on their character in the recently released Obi-Wan Kenobi series on Disney+. Yet, that wasn’t actually Jones’ voice anymore as after 45 years it has changed with age.

    So, Disney and Lucasfilm took a different approach and relied on a synthetic speech recreated from archival footage to create a new dialogue. They worked with the Ukrainian synthetic speech artist Bogdan Belyaev that brought the latest return of Darth Vader to life even during the war that is still ongoing in his home country. Even while there were concerns about his and his team’s well-being, they wanted to power through the situation to highlight they can push through such harsh times.

    Jones has signed off that his voice can be used even if he’s no longer directly involved, and Lucasfilm still continues to credit him for it even if he didn’t sit in a recording booth to bring the voice to life. It does also set a rather curious question regarding the future of actor’s being used in projects even if they’ve passed away.

    Marvel did recently acquire the rights tod o the same with Stan Lee even if we’ve not seen what exactly that’ll entail quite yet. The co-creator of Marvel has been an avid fan of appearing in the media for years, and it does seem like something he’d love to see continue even after his passing but there’s a bitter question to be asked about using someone’s existence long after they’ve passed. We’ll have to see how these kinds of topics will be handled in the future.

    Source: Vanity Fair

  • Hayden Christensen Teases Darth Vader’s Future Beyond ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’

    Hayden Christensen Teases Darth Vader’s Future Beyond ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’

    Hayden Christensen is making his grand return to a galaxy far, far away in Obi-Wan Kenobi, and it appears he may be back for the long haul. The actor portrayed Anakin Skywalker in the latter two of George Lucas’ three prequel films, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. When he appears in Kenobi, it’ll be as the iconic villain Darth Vader, who Christensen only previously had a chance to play in a handful of scenes. In a recent interview with Total Film, the one-time leading man spoke about his on-screen transition from Jedi Knight to Sith Lord:

    When George [Lucas] had brought me onto the prequels, it was to play Anakin. He gets knighted as Darth Vader towards the end, and for a couple of scenes I get to put the suit on. But my journey with the character was with Anakin Skywalker. But the character? He’s such a complex character. And now, getting to explore the mindset and the emotional state of Darth Vader, has been a lot of fun.

    Hayden Christensen

    More importantly, Christensen continued talking to give a tease for his future with the franchise. There have been rumors that he’ll return to the Vader role for an appearance in the upcoming Ashoka series on Disney+, and while the actor wouldn’t reveal if this is true, he did hint that he may not be done playing Darth Vader:

    The extent of this journey, I think, remains to be seen. But what a privilege to get to come back and do this, and to be a part of this project.

    Hayden Christensen

    It certainly sounds like we might get a lot more of Vader moving forward, even if he may be mostly in the form of flashbacks. Yet, they are starting to expand the timeline with different projects. Who knows if they have plants o set some stories up through Obi-Wan Kenobi that would also see his return in a future project.

    Source: Total Film

  • ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’s Ewan McGregor Was “Scared” Facing Off Against Darth Vader for the First Time

    ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’s Ewan McGregor Was “Scared” Facing Off Against Darth Vader for the First Time

    In just a few more weeks we’ll get the next Star Wars series on Disney+. While we take a break from The Mandalorian Universe, we take a look back at the pre-A New Hope era in Obi-Wan Kenobi. Ewan McGregor returns to the iconic role, as he also will get one more time to face off against Hayden Christensen‘s Anakin Skywalker. This time around, however, he will return as the fully formed Darth Vader.

    In an interview with Total Film, the actor revealed just how surprising it was to face off against Darth Vader. It seems that it left quite an impression on him, especially because he never got to meet the character in the Prequel trilogy. He goes on to say:

    I’ve never met Darth Vader. I had rehearsed the scene with Vader, but not with the helmet on or anything like that. When we came to do the scene, when they shouted ‘action’, he had to come from behind me. I turned around, and fucking Darth Vader was coming at me. It was like I was six again. I’d never acted into Vader’s helmet. I’d never looked him in the eye.

    Ewan McGregor

    It’s great to see just how much of an impression the suit and design left with the actor. Reminds many of the first time they were faced with the imposing force that is Darth Vader and how scary he was for many of us when we saw the force of nature. He even highlighted that it was his first time working off a Stormtrooper as the Clone Troopers were CG at the time.

    It scared the shit out of me. I’m not joking. It gave me a proper jolt of absolute fear. I was like, ‘Oh my God, that’s not acting. That’s real. I’m really, truly frightened right now.’ And the same thing would happen with the Stormtroopers. I’d worked with Clone troopers before, but so many of them were CGI. I never worked with Stormtroopers, and, again, I was like seven years old again. Because when you’re actually faced with a Stormtrooper, with a blaster, it’s like: ‘Fucking hell.’

    Ewan McGregor

    It shows how much has also changed in the productions, as while CG still remains an important part of modern filmmaking, more practical elements are being integrated into the projects. his excitement and “fear” to face off against Darth Vader may hopefully even find their way into the production, as it’ll be the first time that Obi-Wan realizes what happened to his former Padawan.

    Source: Total Film

  • First Look at Hayden Christensen’s Return as Darth Vader in ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’

    First Look at Hayden Christensen’s Return as Darth Vader in ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’

    We’ve known for a while that Darth Vader was making his grand return in Obi-Wan Kenobi. Yet, it wasn’t just any version of the character but actor Hayden Christensen returning to the role. There have been many teases that he’ll once again face off against his former master in the series, and luckily Entertainment Weekly offered a first look at the character’s return. While it is definitely Christensen behind the mask as teased, the first look is keeping him mostly in the shadows highlighting the danger he represents, as also highlighted by the Disney+ series writer Joby Harold.

    His shadow is cast across so much of what we do. And the degree of his proximity to that shadow is something that we’ll discover. But he is very much a part of the show emotionally for Obi-Wan, and possibly beyond that as well

    Joby Harold
    Obi-Wan Kenobi

    There’s just something magical about the design of Darth Vader that doesn’t need to change and still remains menacingly. It’s unclear if this shot was just for a photoshoot or is part of the series, but he still remains one of the most menacing villains in pop culture history. We’ll see just what Christensen will bring to the role, as after being asked if we’ll see his face, the actor only teased that he has to keep secrets.

    Source: Entertainment Weekly