Hayden Christensen, who plays Darth Vader, and Deborah Chow, the Director of Obi-Wan Kenobi, have made some recent comments that suggest Rogue One’s scene featuring the Dark Lord at the end of the movie was even scarier than it appeared. While the upcoming Disney+ show focuses primarily on Obi-Wan, Chow has said that they are taking this opportunity to explore Vader himself as well. Star Wars has become a massive, trans-media force to be reckoned with, but Obi-Wan Kenobi is the first time Vader will be seen in a live-action format between Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, besides his few, albeit exciting scenes in Rogue One.
In many ways, the Rogue One Darth Vader scene was a welcome addition to the franchise. As he sliced through rebel fighters making his way towards the Tantive IV, fans finally actually got to see just how powerful Vader really was at this point. The last time Vader was seen in action was when he had locked sabers with his son, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), in Return of the Jedi. Although those fight scenes were intense and clearly showed just how much the technology had improved since the first Star Wars movie, it certainly has left audiences wondering just what Vader would be like with the kind of effects film studios have today. Vader’s hallway scene in Rogue One was truly hair-raising and while it was clearly trying to play fan service, it showed just how deadly the Dark Lord really was at this point.
Yet Christensen and Chow have both made some interesting comments about Vader and where he is at in his journey as a Sith during the time of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Christensen has said that viewers will “see a very powerful Vader” (via Entertainment Weekly). More recently, Chow has said that he “isn’t quite as fully formed” as the Vader seen in A New Hope (via Entertainment Weekly). So while it sounds like Vader is still growing into his role as a Sith, it also appears that he is incredibly powerful. These two comments confirm that the scene at the end of Rogue One featured a Darth Vader who was truly at the top of his game. In light of this, his appearance becomes retroactively more terrifying, as the peak of his powers represents something genuinely insurmountable for the Rebellion.
Though Christensen wasn’t the one to don the Vader suit in Rogue One, few actors know the character as intimately as he does. As the one to have navigated the transition from Anakin Skywalker to Darth Vader, Christensen understands just how far the character has come, and just how far he needs to go before he is the fully-fledged terror seen later on in the timeline. Coupled with Chow saying that they’ll be leaning into how Vader is still growing as a Sith in Obi-Wan Kenobi confirms that the hallway scene was just the tip of the iceberg. Combining added insight into Vader's development with the knowledge that Rogue One’s Vader was even stronger promises to make the character seem even more formidable than ever.
Whatever direction Chow decides to go with the Sith, it will be exciting to know that Christensen is under the helmet during what again sounds like an extremely interesting time for Darth Vader. Though he may be powerful, the Dark Lord is still years away from becoming the Vader seen in Rogue One. If what Christensen says is true, that he is very powerful in Obi-Wan Kenobi, that will only make Vader’s chronologically later hallway scene all the scarier.
