What If We Had an AU Where Hot 2019 Hayden Christensen Played Darth Vader?

There was a time in my young life when I thought I would marry Hayden Christensen. Granted, I was fourteen and watching Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith on a loop all summer. Still, that love remained, and I was saddened by how the Star Wars fandom reacted to Christensen. Flashforward to 2019, and it seems as if we’re all team Hayden and want him back, so I guess those fourteen years really changed us.

When Hayden Christensen brought his daughter to Disneyland to visit the Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge park, fans clung to the pictures as Anakin clung to the dirt to keep himself away from the fire threatening to take him, which then made us all realize that a) Hayden Christensen is nearly Vader-age and b) we maybe loved him as Anakin Skywalker.

So before we get into the adorable pictures of Christensen in the Falcon and thriving in a world he helped to bring to a new generation, let’s explore the idea of him playing an Anakin Skywalker that wasn’t burned and left for dead. Now, Hayden Christensen is still slightly too young to be the Darth Vader we first see in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (Vader is 42 and Christensen is only 38) but still, let’s pretend for a moment that Christensen could have had a Kylo Ren mask reveal.

If 38-year-old Christensen took off the Vader mask? I’d probably have a very different response to the redemption arc that followed. (Just kidding, I’d still hate Darth Vader, but whatever, Hayden Christensen is hot.) What I do hope for, on a more serious note, is the inclusion of Christensen for the red carpet of The Rise of Skywalker and maybe even a cameo from the Anakin actor in the film. Can we have that? Please?

Still, the love for Christensen is strong. On Twitter, many are talking about these pictures and the hope they have for Hayden Christensen to come back to Star Wars, or to have a career boost á la Robert Pattinson.

These pics makes me SO HAPPY. pic.twitter.com/FfyqYMpuap

— Lacey Gilleran (@laceygilleran) October 30, 2019

Hayden Christensen deserves a Robert Patterson career redemption. The man is an underrated AF actor. Just watch Shmi’s death scene again and tell me he didn’t sell that shit like his name was Steve Jobs

— The Mandalorian Wolf (@themandowolf) October 28, 2019

Hayden Christensen visiting Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland has to be my favorite thing ever pic.twitter.com/o2KQghfjDq

— Matt (@TheMattHaas) October 30, 2019

hayden christensen out here still being my star wars daddy i love he pic.twitter.com/Iwkqp5z18W

— danielle (@Iightben) October 30, 2019

We really out here living in a world with new Hayden Christensen and new Ewan McGregor content on the daily😭 Blessed pic.twitter.com/iUOLMRJbpc

— Marisa🎃 (@TheIronMaiden) October 30, 2019

If you told 14 year old me that I’d be looking at this picture at nearly 28 years old and still have feelings for Hayden Christensen, I’d believe you pic.twitter.com/OIbUcnVCfm

— rachel leishman (@RachelLeishman) October 30, 2019

Would Hayden Christensen ever come back to the Star Wars franchise? Who knows, but I think it’s safe to say that we’re here for it, and if you want to make a Hot Vader movie, I’m not saying I would not watch it.

(image: Richard Harbaugh/Disneyland Resort via Getty Images)

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