Star Wars could see the long-awaited return of Hayden Christensen, who played Anakin Skywalker in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, if fans’ suspicions are correct. Murmurs about the possibility have been increasing online as The Rise of Skywalker’s release date creeps ever closer but now there looks to be another reason to believe their wishes might come true. The spike in speculation kicked off in the late Tuesday night when Disneyland Resort reportedly shared a series of pictures of Christensen at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
According to several social media users, who screens hotted and shared the pictures online, the tweet was quickly (and strangely) deleted.
However, the post later reappeared on both Star Wars’ official Twitter page and Disneyland Resort’s.
Sharing pictures of Christensen posing at the attraction with their 4.2 million followers, Star Wars said: “The Chosen One himself, Hayden Christensen, had a most impressive visit to Star Wars: #GalaxysEdge at @Disneyland. The Force is strong with this one!”
Of course, the actor reinvolving himself with the franchise in such an obvious way — almost literally stepping in to a land set in the sequel trilogy — has caused chaos among fans who are convinced it means he will be making an appearance in The Rise of Skywalker.
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“King of being in TROS,” one Twitter user declared, while another commented: “TROS looks great.”
“Can’t wait to see him in TROS in seven weeks.”
One of the pictures of Christensen at Galaxy’s Edge showed him meeting a young fan with a lightsaber.
While it seems Disney and Star Wars wanted to keep the visit somewhat under wraps until the right moment, the information leaked on Twitter hours before it was shared officially thanks to sightings of the star at Disneyland.
One revealed the news on Twitter saying: “We saw Hayden Christensen in Downtown Disney earlier!”
Another said they saw Christensen and his actress wife Rachel Bilson at the resort, tweeting: “I got off a ride yesterday at Disney and went to the side to drink some water and standing right next to me was Rachel Bilson and Hayden Christensen who plays freaking Anakin Skywalker! I wonder how he felt walking into Galaxy’s Edge.”
On Reddit, Star Wars aficionados went wild theorising about the meaning of the appearance, with several pointing out how the actor’s current age would fit fairly well with the chronology of the story.
“He’s aged really well for the role. Disney, what the f**k are you waiting for?!” one said, while another added: “He deserves it and if it’s to close the Skywalker saga, which chronologically started with him, he should be in it.
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“If the Jedi of the last are to guide Rey towards the Jedi of the future, I don’t see why he wouldn’t be involved, especially if she’s being pulled and conflicted to the dark as he was.
“He would be the best possible character to empathise and help her through it. Hell it would even make sense if he appeared before Kylo for the same reason,” they insisted.
One rumour about a possible return to the franchise for Christensen is that he will portray a Force Ghost Anakin.
According to Roger Friedman at Showbiz411, the actor is said to have filmed scenes for Rise of Skywalker last year.
Elsewhere, the Anakin actor has also been seen appearing in public alongside Palpatine star Ian McDiarmid in recent months, fuelling speculation about an upcoming cameo.
Last month, Disney were said to have cancelled the Star Wars star’s appearance at Salt Lake’s FanX at the last minute.
After Billy Dee Williams pulled out of a fan convention unexpectedly last year, and went on be confirmed to be reprising his role as Land Calrissian in The Rise of Skywalker, the move naturally increased suspicions.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is released in UK cinemas December 19.