‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Director Deborah Chow Says Darth Vader “Isn’t Fully Formed Yet” In Her Series

The “Obi-Wan Kenobi” limited series on Disney+ is two months away, and it’s a big draw for many “Star Wars” fans hoping for the return of Ewan McGregor’s Kenobi and Hayden Christensen’s Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader. While some have been critical of Vader’s inclusion and the new face-off that is coming between former master and pupil—there are many lines in ‘A New Hope’ that indicated they hadn’t seen each other since ‘Revenge of The Sith’ and this new face-off undercuts that film—one element that seems to make it all work is the live-action introduction of the Inquisitors. The Inquisitors are a group of hunters introduced in “Star Wars: Rebels” that hunt out and kill outstanding Jedi for the Empire that managed to escape Order 66. And on the animated show, when they find Jedi, this often compels Vader out of his lair, if it’s a big enough fish to fry.

READ MORE: ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’: Darth Maul Appearance Was Scrapped In The Previous Hossein Amini Version Of Series

According to the show’s director, there is also another reason for Vader joining the series. Entertainment Weekly spoke to Lucasfilm filmmaker Deborah Chow (“Jessica Jones,” “The Mandalorian”) about the reasoning for having both Darth Vader and, more importantly, Christensen reprising the role after the last appearing in the franchise for “Star Wars: Revenge of The Sith.”

“I really wanted to do something that was character-based and character-driven because that is the benefit of the limited series, is that you have more time to sort of tell a real character story,” Chow told EW about how Vader fits into the series. “And so for me, the starting place of character is you just start, and you look at who has been important to him in his life. And it’s quite hard to avoid Anakin/Vader in that scenario, especially coming out of ‘Revenge of The Sith.’”

Chow added it wasn’t a flippant idea, explaining “It came out of an evolution of the character for me. It wasn’t just to sort of bring him back. It was really like, who means something and where are we at this point in the timeline with Vader?”

Plus, it sounds like they’ve tried to actively get around some of the dialogue in ‘New Hope’ by suggesting Vader is not the same person in that film. “He isn’t the ‘New Hope’ Vader quite yet; you know what I mean?” Chow explained. “So we are with the character sort of in the middle of this period. It is still Vader obviously, but it’s a Vader that isn’t quite as fully formed as ‘A New Hope.’”

“They’ve been these characters for so long,” Chow said about McGregor and Christensen bringing their experience with these characters to the set. “And they obviously did them in the prequels, and they’ve lived with this character in their lives for so long that they just know the character so well, which makes it so helpful in terms of the creative.”

Recent reports revealed Ray Park’s Sith gangster character Darth Maul had been initially wanted as the show’s big bad in an earlier incarnation. Still, we’ll likely have to wait until the main press junket before that is either confirmed or cleared up by those involved. Here’s the ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi” synopsis:

The story begins 10 years after the dramatic events of “Star Wars: Revenge of The Sith,” where Obi-Wan Kenobi faced his greatest defeat—the downfall and corruption of his best friend and Jedi apprentice, Anakin Skywalker, who turned to the dark side as evil Sith Lord Darth Vader.

“Obi-Wan Kenobi” will debut May 25 on Disney+ and hopefully will be a self-contained story.