Hayden Christensen's Anakin Skywalker Is Returning

Summary

Anakin Skywalker will return in Ahsoka Season 2, confirmed by Hayden Christensen.
Anakin and Ahsoka's relationship should provide emotional closure and spiritual healing for the two characters.
Christensen expressed interest in further exploring Anakin's story and potentially the Darth Vader timeline.

A fan-favorite character is returning to Ahsoka Season 2. Multiple stars confirmed this report.

Ahsoka is a live-action Star Wars show centered on Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson), a former Jedi Knight. The character was first introduced in the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars and later appeared in Star Wars Rebels. Ahsoka debuted in August 2023 on Disney+. In January 2024, Dave Filoni confirmed that a second season was greenlit and in development. In March 2025, Eman Esfandi, who plays Ezra Bridger in the show, said they had started filming. In a recent Star Wars event, Ahsoka stars confirmed the return of a legendary character.

Several Star Wars stars and fans gathered together in Tokyo, Japan, for the 2025 Star Wars Celebration. At the event, Dawson and Hayden Christensen confirmed that the latter would reprise his role as Anakin Skywalker in Ahsoka Season 2. "There's not much that I can share, but Anakin will be back for season 2," Christensen said, per Entertainment Weekly. Dawson confirmed it, adding, "I'm so grateful he's coming back for the second season." Christensen made his debut as Anakin in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones. He reprised the role again in Revenge of the Sith (2005). Christensen made a voice cameo in The Rise of Skywalke r (2019). However, it was not until 2022 that he appeared on screen again, when he was featured in flashback scenes without a mask in the Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi. Christensen also returned as Anakin in Ahsoka in 2023.

Christensen's performance as Anakin in the 2000s received mixed reviews. Some had issues with his wooden dialogue, and others pointed out his lack of chemistry with Natalie Portman's Padme Amidala. The criticism overshadowed the narrative arc of Anakin's transformation into Darth Vader. However, over time, there was a shift in how fans saw Christensen's Anakin, with more fans growing favorably toward his portrayal. At the event, Christensen said he loved his Star Wars character. In fact, he was down to playing the role for more years if they still wanted him. He said (via IGN):

"I would love the chance to continue to explore Anakin's story some more and hopefully do the Darth Vader timeline a little bit more too. I think there are more stories there to be told."

The Star Wars Fandom At Large Is, Generally Speaking, Always Excited For More Anakin Skywalker

Anakin is a significant character in Star Wars. His return to Ahsoka is not necessary in the plot, but relevant to the show's emotional and thematic core. Anakin and Ahsoka's relationship was explored in the Clone Wars prior to the Ahsoka series. The pair is incredibly close, like siblings or even a father and daughter at times. When she left the Jedi Order after being wrongly accused, Anakin was deeply hurt. They never reconciled until he fell into his dark side and became Darth Vader.

In the Ahsoka episode, "Shadow Warrior," Ahsoka has visions of the Clone Wars and moments with Anakin where she confronts her trauma of fighting in the war as a child, feeling like a failure after she left Anakin, and feeling the pain after realizing that Anakin became Darth Vader. Bringing back Anakin in Ahsoka Season 2 will give them emotional closure and spiritual healing. The fifth episode reveals how tight their connection was and gives fans a glimpse of one of the most powerful moments in the Star Wars universe. This will also give Anakin a chance at posthumous redemption and enrich Ahsoka's arc, showing her evolution from a warrior to a wise guide.