See how Hayden Christensen’s Darth Vader may have appeared in Force Awakens

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

As it stands, Darth Vader exists in STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS as a charred helmet and in a few references, although this was not always the case. “The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens” book shows us that at one point in time, Vader would have appeared as a Force ghost. Remember those rumors about Hayden Christensen returning to the SW saga? This is undoubtedly where they’ve stemmed from as the following concept art shows us a kind of halfway point between Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader. Take a look!

Artist Iain McCaig on the above images:

“When you light a candle, you also cast a shadow.” That inspired me to propose, for the first time, that Anakin’s ghost could come back … If we see Anakin Skywalker, because he does flow back and forth between Darth Vader and Anakin, let’s see him as a character with a dark and light side. The reason Luke is this whole new entity is because he was the first to acknowledge his own dark side — that it was not separate from him.

Of course, early versions of The FORCE AWAKENS had Luke play a more prominent figure, so perhaps this is something leftover from that. Given that we’re going to see much more of him in EPISODE VIII, I suppose there’s always the possibility that Vader could return in some form or fashion. The Force is a fickle thing!

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS is now in theaters.