Mini Series Darth Vader in Kenobi Series

Hopefully they will show his name in credits since everything going forward with be Vader based on his voice.

 

"Darth Vader......Based on the Voice of James Earl Jones"

 

I think Scream 3 did it before them.

 

One day actors wont have to do ab?anything. Just sign their likeness and voice off and let the money roll in

 

They do it with GL in the credits.

 

GL kept crediting Kenny Baker even when Baker wasn’t involved with the character anymore, since CG-R2 and robot-R2 were still based on Baker’s movements. Same goes for JEJ’s voice, I’d say.

 

It was a field of dreams...

 

I'm extremely grateful that James Earl Jones has been voicing Vader for this long. It was great to have him in Obi-Wan Kenobi. It was a solid final performance.

 

Me too. Darth Vader's voice is a huge part of what makes the character complete. It simply wouldn't be the same without James Earl Jones's distinct tones. I've never heard any impersonator even come close to the sound that the great man gives to Vader. The voice work in Obi-Wan Kenobi wasn't 100% JeJ doing the actual lines but was his voice work from all era's of his career being used and digitally manipulated. It was incredible to hear and I'm more than happy with the results. It simply means going forward Vader will always have 'That voice'.

 

While some (many?) would disagree, the '76-'77 line "We meet again, at last; the circle is now complete; when I left you I was but the learner, now I'm the Master" actually makes more sense after Obi-Wan's Disney+ duel; in the series duel, this is still raging Ani, petty and dramatic, trapped in a bio-suit, unable to defeat his former Master, still in good PT form; in the 1977 duel, he is a seasoned, older Sith Lord, a cold, robotic Master of the Dark Side, completely sure that he's going to (finally) defeat a very old Obi-Wan (ergo, the circle is complete: Darth Vader is now stronger than Obi-Wan and Anakin Skywalker is utterly gone).

 

This remains to be seen. Disney went for the quick buck for the show - Vader and Kenobi probably shouldn't have met between the PT & CT. And based on Disney's uneven judgement - potentially may meet again. To your point, 10 years in, Vader is shown making tactical errors, prioritizing his agenda over the Empire's and as undisciplined as ever. That is a long time into his tenure to be acting like that. But we are supposed to believe he turns it around those next 10 years to a much more mature and disciplined Vader?

There is someone on Youtube doing "fix it" scenes of films/tv shows that don't make sense and he ends up doing a couple of Vader ones. First he instructs the star destroyer to follow the the larger ship while he goes off to fight Kenobi. Second, he doesn't grab the wrong ship w/the force - he does grab the right one - but then Reva attacks him so he lets go.

I'm having trouble connecting the Vader from the CT to the post CT content. And I fear we may never get there at this point.

 

I kind of like that. "Inside your head". His Vader voice lives on inside our heads.

 

True. But I did like the way he delivered that line. Very haunting. One of the few things in that film I could actually see Sidious Palpatine doing: impersonating Vader, manipulating someone.



Ian McDiarmid, Andy Serkis, and James Earl Jones all have great voices. I actually stole this idea for my own novel when the dictator Zannatrel tells her daughter, the Dark Lord, that she had manipulated her for 400 years, and she uses her magic to impersonate the voices of the secondary villain and a minor villain as she relishes her supposed triumph over her enemy. But this was all thought out and explained. The Sequel Trilogy, by contrast, is a mess.

“Oh, but I always can, my daughter,” said Zannatrel, grinning. “Do you not see? I foresaw what you would become. You were long groomed for your role. The darkness and the light are one and the same. Utilizing both gives me full power. I dispensed with oversimplified concepts of good and evil long ago. I am a gardener meting out justice against the vast majority of weeds that poison the flowers in this garden called the Multiverse. You are but an instrument in that plan. You began this conflict, and now…I shall be the savior.”

Realizing the breadth of Zannatrel’s deviousness, Shalnavé, incensed, said, “How diabolically inventive of you.”

Zannatrel’s face neared Shalnavé’s. “All forms of manipulation,” she said in her voice, “which you have experienced,” in Yetroner’s, “have worked to my advantage,” in Lenisha’s. Zannatrel’s voice returned to normal and she said, “I created Yetroner, as you know.”

“With the darkest magic,” said Shalnavé.

It's a pity none of those characters sound like James Earl Jones. Zannatrel sounds like an evil version of Felicity Jones. Lol.

Even though they used that machine to render Jones' lines in OBK, it is fitting because Jones did perform Vader's vocabulator from 1977 to 2019. He was essentially performing a machine speaking for a man whose voice had been weakened. Even so, I think some guys must have been using that technology to adjust/edit how Jones' words were put together and how they sounded. After all, Vader doesn't say every word the same way. That said, I did notice that it was a machine early on because he tended to say I the same way more than once. But I don't blame Jones. He's elderly now, and he's earned some rest. The real human performance was Hayden Christensen. We had plenty of Jones performing Vader in ROTS, Rebels, Rogue One, etc. It's fitting that his voice should be used by a machine to create a vocabulator. I also think that Matthew Sloan did a really good job as Vader's voice in the Force Unleashed games. Of course, so many actors have portrayed Anakin/Vader for different times of his life and in different capacities. So, it's no surprise that they would want to keep Jones' famous voice and pay him for its use.

 

I'm glad that JEJ has bowed out in this way. He will live forever anyway by virtue of all the films he's appeared in over the years, but this also secures the future of the characters continuity and I also assume will net his family a nice pension pot as well.

Given this news, the unconfirmed rumours of Bruce Willis signing his face away, the quality of some of the de-aging we've seen in recent years and it all makes me wonder how far away we are from an actor signing over their digital likeness so that they can appear in films even after they pass away.

 

I think more actors and their estates will agree to what I call the "Tarkin Treatment" (a la Peter Cushing being re-created in R1). That should be interesting.

As it is, I'm glad we got to see Darth Vader again, and he served as an interesting contrast to Obi-Wan and Reva. But the whole point of this was Obi-Wan re-learning his old tricks and regaining his confidence, plus his friendship with Leia. I really liked Reva's arc. That moment where Vader telekinetically stopped her blade was something else.

 

The Vader from D+Obi-Wan is still Ep.III Anakin Skywalker in everything but name (including bringing Hayden Christensen back, in a much-publicized stunt), in his early '30s if not mistaken, still obsessed about the Mustafar duel, boasting like a brat and making mistakes; and yes, I guess this (second) defeat against his former Master was a (huge) step towards the colder/more robotic/calculating Darth Vader of Ep IV, a wiser (and evil) man in his '40s.

Anyway, I've always thought that the way Alec Guinness reacted when he encountered Vader on the Death Star implies that it was not the first time he had seen Darth Vader (the bio-suit, I mean) in the flesh. He looked cornered and even a bit scared at first (knowing he would have to fight his way out) but not shocked or confused.

 

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/09/darth-vaders-voice-emanated-from-war-torn-ukraine

This article explains more about how Vader's voice was rendered for the show. I wasn't aware that Ukrainians were involved. The article's author agrees with me that it was appropriate for a character who is half-machine to have an AI-generated voice. Having said that, the guys who worked on it with Matthew Wood did a great job. They certainly had to alter the tone of certain words, and it was amazing how words Vader had not said before are pieced together. Overall, it was a lot more effective than how Luke's voice sounded in TBOB. I think they should have just had Hamill voice him. But Vader's voice in this show was very effective and convincing.

 

But what is the catalyst for Vader transforming into the "wiser (and evil) man in his '40s"? He speaks with Palpatine at the end of the series and is still obsessed with tracking Kenobi at all costs. I can't believe Palpatine telling him to cease and desist on Kenobi would be enough for him to shape up or ship out after 10 years. I don't get why Palpatine wouldn't have adjusted his behavior prior. Palps is so savvy in the PT, but then he puts up with this idiocy from DV for 10 years? In ANH he is boasting (now after two defeats) that he is the master. If he had matured, maybe stop bragging and actually prove it? This is why I'm saying the depiction of Vader in Kenobi was a massive gaff. Vader nor Palpatine is acting is in a believable way.

 

I just came across this image and it's kind of stunning how much Hayden looks like Sebastian Shaw.

 

they gave him the full face makeup when only barely half of it is visible when the mask breaks? That's either dedication or just poor planning.

Anyway great to see Vader still rocking the angry red Sith eyes when Obi-Wan popped the mask.

 

When you realize Jones is everywhere

James Earl Jones (Star Wars)
Indiana Jones
Jonesy (Alien)

 

So glad that Hayden paid tribute to the work of Dave Filoni and Co. for TCW. TCW does enhance our understanding of Anakin and his fall. And I totally agree with EckhartsLadder here. ROTS is like an opera. Also, I'm really looking forward to Ahsoka. I've changed my opinion with regard to Ezra bringing about Thrawn's initial defeat. I think it's a good idea. Since this will essentially be a Rebels sequel, I'm excited.