Obi-Wan Kenobi: Hayden Christensen first look as Darth Vader, speaks out on being cut from Rogue One

The first image of Hayden Christensen's highly anticipated return to the world of Star Wars as Darth Vader has now been released online. This comes shortly after the first look at Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi, followed by the first teaser trailer.

After falling to the dark side in Revenge of the Sith, we now have our first look at Vader (via EW) as the man/machine leaves his mediation chamber in the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series. The actor, who returns to the role 17 years on, revealed that fans will see a "very powerful Vader" in the Disney Plus show.

Obi-Wan Kenobi series writer Joby Harold further explained that: "His shadow is cast across so much of what we do. And the degree of his proximity to that shadow is something that we'll discover. But he is very much a part of the show emotionally for Obi-Wan, and possibly beyond that as well."

Lucasfilm had the opportunity to bring back Christensen to portray Darth Vader in 2016's Rogue One, however, instead opted for the role to be shared between Welsh actor Spencer Wilding and stuntman Daniel Naprous. 

"I wasn't a part of any of those conversations about Rogue One. But I loved what they did with it. The character predates me, and it's always been a collective effort in a lot of ways. I thought it was brilliant," Christensen explained to EW. 

Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy revealed that she actually visited Christensen at his ranch in Canada in the hope of persuading him to return: "Deborah came up and we spent the day chatting," he said "She told me a little bit about the project and her vision for it, and I just thought that it sounded wonderful. I was very excited to come back."

As the prequels garnered a lot of negative feedback from fans, it's great to hear that the actor is happy to be back in the Sith's costume. It was also confirmed in the same interview that the Obi-Wan Kenobi series will feature six episodes, slightly shorter than the eight-episode runs of The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett.

Obi-Wan Kenobi stars Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen with Moses Ingram, Joel Edgerton, Bonnie Piesse, Kumail Nanjiani, Indira Varma, Rupert Friend, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Sung Kang, Simone Kessell and Benny Safdie all set to appear. It will begin streaming exclusively across Disney Plus from May 25th, 2022.