Star Wars: 3 underrated questions we want The Rise of Skywalker to answer
By Nathan Umali
Return of the Jedi. Photo credit: Lucasfilm
1. Will we see Anakin Skywalker and/or Obi-Wan Kenobi?
The Last Jedi gave us the return of Yoda in force ghost form. The short cameo was a well-timed narrative choice, but many people were surprised Luke Skywalker’s other master Obi-Wan Kenobi didn’t make an appearance as well.
The end of Return of the Jedi showed Yoda, Obi-Wan, and Anakin appear as force ghosts watching over Luke as the Rebellion celebrated the defeat of the Empire. So, we know Obi-Wan and Anakin are out there, but why didn’t they make an appearance in The Last Jedi?
The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson told CinemaBlend:
"“Believe me, man. I would have loved to have had Ewan McGregor in the movie but it was just a matter of storytelling. The original relationship with Obi Wan — obviously if Alec Guinness were still with us that would have made sense. But we never saw Luke ever interact with the Ewan version of Obi Wan, so there’s less of the emotional connection and it might have been a little odd.”"
The explanation makes sense. But will The Rise of Skywalker director J.J. Abrams be more willing to bring back some of these legacy characters as force ghosts? Fans are certainly clamoring for it, and it is easy to envision a scene where Rey or even Ben Solo has a brief moment communicating with the force ghosts of Luke, Anakin, Obi Wan, and Yoda in a similar manner to how Luke did in Return of the Jedi.
Anakin actor Hayden Christiansen has long been rumored to make an appearance in the sequel trilogy, and I would bet Abrams will bring him back in some capacity, likely in a small but pivotal role.
After all, this is the Skywalker trilogy, so it would make sense to include a Skywalker from all three of the trilogies to complete the story arc.