James Earl Jones' passing alters the deal for Darth Vader's role in Star Wars' future

The Star Wars community is still grieving the loss of James Earl Jones, the legendary voice of Darth Vader, who passed away on September 9 at the age of 93.

Jones voiced Darth Vader in several films and television series and was involved in everything from A New Hope to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Star Wars Rebels. Most recently, when Lucasfilm brought Darth Vader back in the Obi-Wan Kenobi series, Jones confirmed that he's stepping back from actively voicing Vader for future Star Wars projects. However, the voice of Darth Vader in the series belongs to Jones.

Jones struck a deal with Ukrainian startup Respeecher, as we reported in 2022, which allowed Respeecher to use archival recordings of Jones' voice to recreate it using AI for Obi-Wan Kenobi. Thanks to the deal, Jones was able to retire from the franchise, but fans could enjoy new dialogues from Vader in the series, in Jones' powerful voice recordings from 1977.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Skywalker Sound editor Matthew Wood confirmed to Variety that Jones had taken a step back from the franchise but continued to offer his guidance to the makers of Obi-Wan Kenobi:

"Wood told the publication that Jones was akin to a “benevolent godfather” in working with the show’s team to offer guidance with the new dialogue for 'Obi-Wan Kenobi.'"

- The Hollywood Reporter.

Now that Jones has passed away, many are questioning whether Lucasfilm will continue to work with Respeecher to recreate Jones' voice through AI for future projects or turn toward other actors. Others, including Scott Lawrence and Matt Sloan, have voiced Darth Vader for Star Wars video games and are options to consider if the character is to make future appearances in animation, live-action series, or Star Wars films.

Hayden Christensen and Matt Lanter could also voice him, although this would be trickier to achieve, because, on their own, their voices don't sound like James Earl Jones'. This would take creativity from Skywalker Sound and would be similar to what they did using Lanter and Jones' voices for Star Wars Rebels and Christensen and Jones' voices for Obi-Wan Kenobi.

While worrying about Jones' future in the franchise may seem like a waste of time considering that he granted permission for his voice to be re-created using AI, the laws around the use of AI to bring back deceased actors are still evolving, with Disney just being sued for using AI to resurrect Peter Cushing to play Grand Moff Tarkin for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Despite getting permission from Cushing's estate, a U.K.-based company, Tyburn Film Productions, insists that Cushing only permitted them to use special effects to recreate his likeness.

Using AI means entering murky territory in the present atmosphere, with actors fighting with studios for fair payment and the risk of their likeness being recreated without their permission through AI being very real. A lot will depend on whether Jones' family agrees to have his voice continue being recreated using AI and if the laws allow it.

The best thing to do is find a middle ground between using Respeecher to recreate Jones' voice from archival recordings and allowing other actors, such as Scott Lawrence and Matt Sloan, to voice Vader, at least for animated series. As for live-action, should another film like Rogue One come along, and Vader be needed for several iconic dialogues, Disney may decide to recreate Jones' voice and turn to Respeecher again, with permission from Jones' family.

For now, we can enjoy James Earl Jones' incredible voice as Darth Vader in the many projects he was a part of, starting with Star Wars: Episode IV—A New Hope, and trust in the force that Lucasfilm will do its best to honor Jones' contributions to the franchise in the most ethical way.