Speculation Would Disney Re-Cast Anakin/Darth Vader over using Hayden again?

I know everything is talking about recasting the Big 3 and/or using Ewan for Obi Wan. My question is - would/or SHOULD Disney recast Anakin/Darth Vader over using Hayden again?

My best guess for Ep VII is that Anakin will come back as a force ghost and either talk to Luke or Obi-Wan or Yoda.

In my opinion, Hayden was a terrible actor. He pretty much killed the prequels with his wooden acting skills and terrible over reactions.

It is also easy to assume that the rest of Hollywood agrees as Hayden has been cast in 1 lead role since then. And that movie - Jumper - was in 2008 and wasnt that good either (besides Bilson who looked amazing).

So, if you have Anakin/Vader coming back in any capacity - do you think the exec's at Disney will look at Haydens track record and decide to recast the role instead of bringing him back?

Or do you think they will shy away from bringing Vader back because of the way Hayden portrayed Vader and the fact they know they cant recast?

What would you like to see?

My money is on Hayden coming back in a limited role. Darth Vader/Anakin NEED to be included in Episode VII. Especially if the Big 3 are back - you can BANK on Luke talking to a force ghost Anakin. 100% for sure.

-C

Here we go, another Hayden bashing thread.

Anakin Skywalker's portrayal in the PT was a perfect storm of suck, IMO. The character was poorly conceived (space Jesus + a needless prophecy), poorly written (whiny, selfish, mopey, reactionary), and poorly acted even with all that.

He almost, almost, becomes likeable during the beginning half of RotS, but his outburst in the Jedi Counsel Chamber negates much of that. He's supposed to be this sympathetic, always feeling out of place character, but he comes across as petulant and impatient.

Think the actor is absolutely awful, but I wouldn't be bothered if they plugged him in as a force ghost so long as the screen time is limited. To be honest I don;t think force Ghosts should really be involved at all, but that is personal preference. So while I think Hayden is easily on the low end of poor actors (Not saying he is a bad guy just that he chose the wrong profession) it would by no means be a deal breaker for me. If I could handle him in Attack of the Clones then I can handle him for a couple of minutes in total for the sequel trilogy. I still feel the best solution is do not have Anakin period.

its not really meant to be a bashing on Hayden. But, it is cause for concern for Disney. Its obvious Hayden has some issues. So, do you recast the biggest icon of the story to fix the problem, or deal with him, or just not put the biggest, best villian in the history of cinema (save the Joker), in your new trilogy trying to revitalize a 4 billion dollar franchise?

-C

It'll go down that road, sadly. (already has somewhat)

I'm against bringing back all of these characters as force ghosts. I think it would be corny, and would trivialize character deaths in the stories. That being said, I did not mind Hayden Christenson as Anakin.

First of all, Disney is not making the ST, Lucasfilm is. Yes, Disney will have power over certain things, perhaps such as this topic, but just because Disney bought Lucasfilm does not mean that these are "Disney" movies in the same way that The Princess and the Frog was..... They didn't buy Lucasfilm becasue they thought Lucasfilm didn't know what they were doing. If that were the case, they would have simply purchased the trademarks and rights to Star Wars and left the company in Lucas' hands to either close or continue with other properties. The company, a good portion of staff familiar with SW, Kennedy (selected by Lucas himself), and continued input by George Lucas are making the ST.

That being said, I'm pretty sure that we will see Ghost Anakin (Ghost-akin?) and that Hayden will play the part. This is only my opinion, but I believe, so be it in hindsight, that Hayden was plugged into the DVD release of ROTJ for this very purpose.

I dont know about seeing Darth Vader in the ST...........?????

Great actor? No. I agree.

Can he serve the purpose in the ST? I think so, and part of that is having the familiar face from the PT interact with the ST rockstar Luke Hamill!

BTW, you missed Shattered Glass and Awake as far as lead roles for him. Not bad movies, but still not great acting.....

Bringing back Hayden wouldn't accomplish that though. The villain you speak of that people remember is Vader in his suit with the James Earl Jones voice. Hayden wouldn't have anything to do with that...

@LunarMoth And who's distributing and financing the films?

Obviously Disney, but that has nothing to do with the other info. Fox didn't make the others. Granted they did not own Lucasfilm either, but I still lean to the idea of the purchase being based on track record at least partially.

Fox did, actually. They own ANH since they completely financed it and approved/gave their own word to LFL. So in other words, if Disney finances the new trilogy, it's pretty much safe to say that Disney controls or has a say on the films. I don't think they are strictly just distributing the films like Fox had done after ANH. LFL was its own private company with Lucas wanting freedom from corporations.

I'm not too familiar with what Disney had done with Marvel (freedom wise), but Disney still owns Marvel and its films.

Personally, I think pretty much anything relating to the prequels, other than maybe locations, are not going to be in the film.

If Fox truly had a huge say in SW, they'd have reviewed the scripts for the PT a little better.

Disney is giving LFL the 'handsoff' approach towards the ST, same they've given with Marvel. LFL is incharge of all casting, principle shooting, directing, etc. They will give the scripts to Disney of course, and Disney will review it obviously, and make changes as needed with the script to make sure everything is really put together. However Disney will not micromanage the development of any of the future Star Wars movies. The major decisions will be decided by Kathleen Kennedy. Why would they in any case? If they wanted to make a Star Wars movie themselves, they would just buy the rights from LFL and make a Star Wars movie, not spend 4 billion to purchase the entirety of LFL only to basically make it themselves.

Fox didn't have a say in the PT because Lucas strictly financed it and controlled the films, while Fox only distributed them. I don't know where you got that info from, unless you misread me.

While LFL may have freedom production wise and canon, Disney is still financing them, unless otherwise noted. Also Kathy needs to go to Disney's head for approval, if I am not mistaken.

btw we are veering off topic.

Well then, if they go to Disney strictly for quality control I'm perfectly fine with that!

And yea, we are.

Regarding Hayden, to be honest: look at how he was portrayed. George Lucas wrote terrible, and I mean terrible dialogue for his character Anakin. However Hayden isn't exactly a great actor either (Jumper) but Life as a House was good. If they handle him as a loving father who's experienced 20 years of being Darth Vader and don't make him a total creep, I'd be fine with Hayden being back.

However, it's possible Disney/LFL might recast someone to play Shaw's character if they feel the backlash for having Hayden in VII would be that bad.

I think Hayden is going to be the one PT actor involved in the ST and I can't wait to see him with Mark Hamill! I think he will serve as a sort conscience for one of his descendants, warning him/her against the dark side.

Disney owns LFL, so I think a parent company could peak and give info to its subsidiaries.

I never really thought Hayden was that great of an actor, but I felt that (especially in ROTS) he did as good a job as was possible, given the material. I thought he was great on Mustafar, and I always get a chill when he screams "I hate you!!!!" (I challenge ANY other actor to do that line BETTER!)

I did like him as Anakin. I really don't know why, but I agree with GL that he has something of a James Dean - ness about him. I know he was "whiny" and all that-but-and I can't BELIEVE I'm still having to say this-his role is SUPPOSED to be that way! An immature, emotional boy/young man with a temper and an unstable personality! He HAD to be that way for his turn to the darkside to be believable! If he was the "unyeilding, sacrifice-for-the-greater good, innocent hero type, (*cough* like Luke *cough*), then we'd be confused at his reasons for turning. Could you imagine Luke turning to the darkside in ROTJ, realistically?

No! Of course not-he would never...........Exactly.

Anywhoo, I would sincerely HOPE they do not recast Hayden-it would be completely unnecessary, given his age and whatnot. Recasting him would just mess up continuity for no good reason. If all he has is like a cameo, or a minor part, with only a couple scenes in Ep. VII (and not VIII and IX) then I don't think his acting will be an issue.

I am actually very hopeful that he shows up as a force ghost. It would be effective for the story-seeing as how he's Luke's father, and we saw him at the end of ROTJ already. Besides, wouldn't that also be a great bit of continuity to connect ALL three trilogies together? I'm hoping that the ST doesn't JUST acknowledge the OT, but incorporates story elements of the PT as well-not just completely ignore it.

Very fair points. How about instead of saying Disney, should i replace that with Kathleen? Do you think Kathleen will rest her Star Wars reputation on Hayden?

Its a tough pill to swallow. And she'll have to do it dry. Because the series needs Anakin - IF its a continuation of the same story.

-C

I thought Hayden improved tremendously in ROTS. If the ghost of Anakin makes a fleeting appearance, Hayden must be cast, IMO. It would be good to see one scene between him and Luke.

I acknowledge that in my original statement. Of course they have control, and this particular topic is certainly a fair example as to where they could, or maybe even should, exercise it. My point is that basically speaking, I don't think they are going to micro-manage the production, and leave it largely in the hands of the established team at Lucasfilm. I was refering more to how freelly people are calling this the "Disney Trilogy" when I dont think they are going to horn in as much as people seem to think.

Personally, I agree with you and doubt Disney will horn in at all except maybe on very minor issues. I think Disney knows that Lucasfilm knows how to make Star Wars films and will allow them the freedom to take the story/characters in any direction they feel is best just like they did with Marvel and Pixar.

I am a bit of both on this. Out of all the charachters back Anakin makes the most sense storywise and was ment to be in the original drafts anyway.

Just for debate's sake it should be said that the Anakin Skywalker in the Clone Wars cartoon looks and sounds nothing like the Anakin in the PT, that was quite glaring especially since they got Ewans look and voice pretty good for it. So if they can find a better actor I say do it.

OTOH I feel bad for Hayden, he seems like a nice guy and the PT has killed his career (as opposed to Portman who won a Oscar) so he could do with a pay check.

Now I have not seen Hayden in anything else so cannot compare but to be fair to him, when you have got lines about Sand it must be hard to make it work just imagine how hard it would have been for Mark Hamill if he came in ESB and Lucas had a kid in ANH. That and Lucas direction both must have been tough.

Cough special editions cough