There's a lot to be excited about Hayden Christensen's upcoming appearance as Darth Vader in the Obi-Wan Kenobi series, but it also offers the chance of a much better send-off than the prequels. Since Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, the actor has yet to make his return to space opera except for his voice cameo in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. While his performance as Anakin Skywalker had a split reception, over the years he's become a celebrated member of the Star Wars family.
The upcoming Ewan McGregor-led series has been in development for years, but it's only recently that Lucasfilm really started talking about it. Announced at 2019's D-23 Expo, filming has been delayed a couple of times as they pushed back its release. Plot details are still being firmly kept under wraps, but it was announced in December 2020 during Disney Investor Day that Christensen is returning as the Sith Lord, setting up the imminent face-off between the Jedi Master and his former apprentice/friend.
Since Obi-Wan Kenobi will take place 10 years after the events of Revenge of the Sith, it's been several years already since Anakin assumed his Darth Vader persona. At this point, it's safe to assume he's already started to accept his new identity and was full-functioning as Emperor Palpatine's right-hand man. Given this, even if he doesn't get a chance to duel Obi-Wan again, this opportunity would be more than enough to rectify his disappointing outing as the Sith Lord. It can be remembered that following his emotional battle with his former Jedi Master on Mustafar, the next time he was seen, he was being outfitted with his mechanical suit which became Darth Vader's iconic aesthetic. Subsequently, he learned that Padmé Amidala has died, resulting in a highly memed reaction of him screaming. Christensen's return as Darth Vader instead of Anakin would give the actor the chance to have a better final scene as the iconic villain than he did in Revenge of the Sith.
While this massive Star Wars casting is confirmed, specific details about the actor's involvement are still firmly under wraps. Aside from his rematch with Obi-Wan, not much has been revealed with regard to the extent of his appearance. Considering the Obi-Wan Kenobi project is supposed to be a limited series, there's not much time to really explore other narratives except for its lead character's arc in the show. As exciting as it is to think it would feature more of Darth Vader, chances are this won't be the case since he's essentially a side character in the story; the focus should primarily be on Obi-Wan.
Nevertheless, as Rogue One: A Star Wars Story proved, Lucasfilm can still make Darth Vader's involvement in the Obi-Wan Kenobi series memorable despite a limited screen time. The Sith Lord only appeared in a few brief scenes in the Star Wars spin-off, and still, his hallway scene quickly became one of his most iconic scenes ever. Hopefully, his upcoming appearance lives up to the hype.