Star Wars

So, Star Wars is big isn’t it? The multibillion franchise is set to release the ninth instalment to the‘Skywalker Saga’ this December with ‘Star Wars – Episode 9: The Rise of Skywalker’. (Just a quicknote, that’s a terrible title.) This ninth movie will finally see the end of what is one of the most iconicmovie series of all time. The main movies I mean, not the crappy spin off movies. But what if I toldyou, that there could be a surprise appearance by one of the franchise’s main players in ‘Episode 9’?It’s not Harrison Ford, it’s not Mark Hamill, it’s not Ewan McGregor, it’s everyone’s favourite part ofthe prequels, Hayden Christensen. Well, second favourite. Jar Jar Binks was quite popular in fairnessto him. Christensen could potentially be making a return in some capacity in the upcoming ‘Episode9’. “Where’s the proof?” I hear literally no one ask, well he and Emperor Palpatine himself, IanMcDiarmid, have recently been spotted together at a children’s hospital in Salt Lake City, reportsComicbook.com. The two have rarely been spotted together since last working alongside each otherin 2005s ‘Star Wars – Episode 3: The Revenge of the Sith’.Could this be a coincidence? Well, yeah, obviously. But that doesn’t make for an interesting story. Sowhy would two actors associated with one of the biggest movie franchises of all time, who haverarely been sighted together, suddenly start making appearances together mere months away fromthe release of another Star Wars movie? Promotion, obviously. Fans were quick to speculate whenthe most recent trailer for ‘Episode 9’ dropped a few weeks ago and Palpatine’s voice could beheard. It is expected that the Emperor will play some role of importance in the final film of the‘Skywalker Saga’.No one truly knows what role he will play in the movie and to how much importance he will be tothe overall storyline of the movie. McDiarmid has played Emperor Palpatine in 4 out of the 5 liveaction movies the character has appeared in. He was later digitally inserted into ‘Episode 5’ in the re-releases where the character made their first appearance. Fans are assuming that McDiarmidhimself will make another on screen appearance as the Emperor in ‘Episode 9’. Some stating that itwould be pointless to have him appear only as a voice over, especially for such a huge part of the‘Skywalker Saga’.Now that’s all well and good, but where does that leave us with Hayden Christensen? Christensenwas and still is considered one of the main reasons why the prequels are critically panned. (I actuallythink they’re grand, but that’s a discussion for a different day). Critics slated Christensen’s woodenand stiff performances as Anakin Skywalker in Episodes 2 & 3. While he is quite poor in thosemovies, let’s be fair to him, he was given absolute tripe to work with. However, Ewan McGregor wasalso given garbage to work with and he is largely considered the best part of the prequel trilogy. So,Christensen’s performances clearly weren’t up to scratch, compared to the rest of his cast mates.But why would he be in ‘Episode 9’? Well, if he is, which he very well might not be, it wouldn’tactually be a bad call in my opinion. Christensen is Darth Vader. Well he’s Anakin in the prequels, butAnakin turns to the dark side at the end of ‘Episode 3’ and we see him dawn the famous Darth Vaderattire. Spoilers for ‘Episode 3’. Sorry, not sorry. Darth Vader as a character plays a huge part in the‘Skywalker Saga’. Arguably the second most important part after Luke. So, having one of the mosticonic characters in Star Wars history, and film history in general, return for your last movie in thefranchise isn’t a terrible idea to me.I would be all for seeing Christensen return in ‘Episode 9’. The guy gets dogs abuse as is for his role in the prequels. If he gets given a decent script to work with this time, who knows, he might be great?If he’s even in the movie that is. Because, let’s face it, it’s a big leap from appearance with former co-star, to appearance in a blockbuster movie. But that’s the beauty of speculation.