After his cameo in the Disney+ series “Kenobi,” Hayden Christensen returned to the Star Wars universe in “Ahsoka” in the role of Anakin Skywalker. For the first time, Master and Padawan faced each other in live action. The performance was applauded by fans who had been hoping for such a meeting for 15 years.
Fans shared their joy about Christensen’s return, especially on X (formerly Twitter). They were particularly reminiscent of this year’s “Star Wars Celebration”, where the actor came on stage to loud applause. He probably got a little emotional after that, as you can see as he tries to hold back his tears. “I am very honored to be here on stage and to be cheered on by you,” said the 42-year-old Christensen. “I just have to try to keep my emotions under control.”
“Today I’m thinking about the moment when Hayden tried to hold back his tears at the Star Wars Celebration,” shares one user. “He felt loved and valued that day, and you can see how much it meant to him to return to Star Wars. Look at him. The man deserves the world.”
Christensen did not always receive praise for his appearance in the prequels, the “Skywalker Saga”. Many fans of the franchise don’t attach much importance to the films about Anakin Skywalker’s path to becoming a Sith and prefer the original trilogy about Luke and Leia Skywalker. On X, users discussed why this is the case.
One user writes: “I don’t understand why people think that Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge are bad, but I was nine when these films came out and changed my life. After seeing it one more time, I like it even more. I hate the new sequels, so maybe it’s a generational thing.”
“They were made for children,” shares another. “The children loved them. It’s the weird original Star Wars fanboys that existed at the time that gave the whole thing so much crap. Lucas didn’t make the new films for them. He wanted the kids to have the same experience they had with the originals.”