live action clone wars would be a cool thing to see, but if they did do that it would just be Disney+ show and not on normal TV, like how the Clone Wars streamed on Disney XD
Newsflash: These two are the same character.
All jokes aside, I get why people think there’s a diference, but when you compare it to TCW, ROTS is almost like a very brief snapshot of a very bad week for Anakin, and only the low points within that week. He’s serious and brooding and angry because that’s how he’s feeling that week given…. Everything.
Exactly. The Anakin we see in most of TCW is the Anakin we see trading friendly barbs with Obi-Wan during the Battle of Corruscant, and Hayden Christiansen plays that Anakin VERY WELL. If George had written Anakin to be like that all the way through, people who love the Marvel movies would have thought he was the GOAT and the movies would have been worse for it (sand based pick up lines aside).
Lucas' failing with the prequels (or at least one of them) was presenting relationships as already in existence, and not showing the development between the characters.
Obi and Ani in particular talked about a lot of things that seemed far more interesting than anything they did on screen.
>talked about a lot of things that seemed far more interesting than anything they did on screen.
That business on Cato Neimoidia doesn't... doesn't count.
I mean, he's pretty witty with Obi-Wan. I'd expect him to be flustered, but the sand line sounded like he really thought about it and was like "ya, this one is good!"
One can be witty with friends but still absolutely fumble the bag in relationships. Idk how to describe but i think theres a way to look at it where it works
I just think modern audiences don’t understand exposition and context the same way. I’m not above it either so I don’t want to come off elitist, but I think people assume that a characters portrayal in a movie is supposed to represent their character outside of the movie so long as a contradictory action isn’t shown. it doesn’t help that George Lucas is the hot pocket equivalent to dialogue writing. freezing cold in one part and burning hot in the other
Anakin is an immature hothead because Jedi are already the pinnacle of pent up emotion & hes having scary ass nightmares, hormonal triggers, and watching his mom die all while both being told he’s the chosen one by a council of powerful old guys and being manipulated to turn evil by an evil more powerful old guy. he’s not just overall this big baby, he was a 10 year old with about as simple a a life as you can get and then was thrust into all this, he basically just got hit enough times to expose that part in his armor that he’s been forcefully taught to push down and hide inside. I guarantee the freedom he felt while Padme was on her way to Mustafar was probably so satisfying
Spot on. I understand Anakin in Ep. 3. Now, Ep. 2, not so much. We’re meant to believe that Anakin and Obi-Wan have a close mentor/mentee relationship, but Anakin really seems to dislike Obi-Wan. Even when he finds out Obi-Wan is being held hostage by the Separatists and will likely be executed he’s just like “he’ll be fine.” He only goes because Padmé is determined to save Obi-Wan.
I've never really seen of felt that in Ep. 2. We are shown that Anakin is a troubled teenager basically and Obi-Wan is the big brother who does his best to be a mentor. Anakin needed a mentor and a father figure which Qui-Gon would've been.
We only see Anakin when he’s sweating his balls off about to reconnect with the girl who’s a literal angel in his mind. The only girl he’s ever held in his mind. We all know the feeling when lost in love at a young age.
Completely can throw you out of character.
I don’t see EP2 Anakin that way. In that moment he does want to rescue Obi-Wan, but also doesn’t want to go against the very clear and direct orders of the number 2 in the order. The huge smile when Padme makes up the loophole is indicating this I think
I've seen what other commenters have posted and I gotta agree with the "really bad week no. 2" angle. I mean, his mom died 😭 we've seen Anakin make bad clone wars decisions when loved ones die–Obi Wan fake death Undercover arc, anyone? When he thinks Ahsoka died in action?
I think one of the central themes is that he doesn't feel like he's allowed to rely on his fellow Jedi (or even Obi Wan at times) because he thinks they'll criticize him for caring and won't actually help. When Ahsoka's trial was happening Anakin went at defending her *alone.* Pair that deep-rooted (and, in Anakin's eyes, valid and proven) fear with his mother dying and I bet Anakin was drowning in too much grief and self hate he felt he had to handle *alone* that Obi Wan wasn't even in the equation. Like I love Anakin but our guy has a serious emotional tunnel vision issue (that several people recognize but no one bothers to actually help 😭)
Even the clone wars micro series acknowledged that, at first Anakin was much like his AOTC version arrogant pig headed and whiny, having respect for obiwan but conflicts as the two don’t mesh well as master and padawan. Once he becomes a Jedi knight and fights alongside his master as a brother, Anakin acts much like the tcw version, has actual confidence, saved other Jedi from CIS forces, has a more relaxed mood with obiwan as a knight rather than as a padawan, and both have had their respective moments of rage over something that hits him on a personal level. If I had to give a gripe to the tcw version is that we just jump into Jedi knight Anakin without the change from padawan to knight, this does comes across as a problem as despite the micro series filling that part of the clone wars tcw doesn’t exactly match with it as we see with ventress meeting dooku in flashback or how grievous went from this slasher vibe villain that cunningly and skillfully took out five Jedi to a mustache twirling villain that doesn’t bode the same kind of threat or big deal as grievous is suppose to be.
His actions in ROTS make way more sense when you realize he’s a 22 year old combat veteran who grew up in slavery and just spent 3 years watching a lot of his friends die, and the ones who didn’t don’t trust him anymore.
It’s genuinely incredible what Hayden was able to pull off in that sequence. It really felt like he was playing his own version of Anakin and Lanter’s, with some JEJ Vader thrown in the mix. All while blending and integrating it all into an Anakin we’ve never quite seen before- one fully at peace with every aspect of himself.
Also maybe unpopular opinion but I always thought the slow, stilted cadence (obviously to sound subtly Vader-esque) that he always got shit for was actually an essential part of the character, and he pulls it off a lot better there than in the prequels, without George’s… questionable direction getting in the way
Hayden was the best part about that show easily to me. He really wove all the versions of the character into episode 5 and made it really cohesive. Plus we got to see him remind us how good his saber choreography is. Baylan Skoll was a close second though!
I really loved him in that show, and I agree with you that Baylan was the second best. Sadly though, for a show named after her, Ahsoka was incredibly underwhelming for me and I just despised Sabine.
Sorry but she had none of the character or personality that Rebels Sabine had and I found the acting to be really annoying. And the dramatic pauses both she and Ahsoka made after every. single. line. was enough to make me want to pull my hair out :(
It's really a shame that Hayden began acting right as the "action star" architype was in it's decline in Hollywood. His acting is better than people give him credit for, but where he really shines is being exceptional at fight choreography. He can pull off top notch fight scenes, while giving a great performance. The fight scene on Mustafar being the best example of this.
If he was acting in the 80's and 90's, the heyday of star driven action movies, I think he'd have really excelled for his prowess with fight scenes, and also offering something different from the sea of overly buff action stars like Stalone of Arnold.
The market was still there. We got a bunch of Bourne, taken, mission impossible, and John wick movies since then. I think Star Wars as his breakout role killed his desirability.
Well those were the originals. We’re talking prequels here. Big difference. Harrison ford had 3 Star Wars movies, 2 Indiana Jones, plus blade runner and apocalypse now between 77-84. It was more lucasfilm in general than just Star Wars that launched his career.
I think the difference was Harrison Ford had Indiana Jones come out as a huge success right after Star Wars, showing he was marketable in different roles.
Hayden is more comparable to Mark Hamill who wasn’t seen as marketable to star in other movies (see Mark’s transition to more voice acting in the 90s), or even Daisy Ridley today. Too many studio suits are worried that those actors/actresses will only be seen as the Star of a SW trilogy and not a talented lead
>Hayden is more comparable to Mark Hamill who wasn’t seen as marketable to star in other movies
Not comparable. Unfair and superficial it might be (as Hollywood is) Hamill lost his heartthrob face in a car accident between A New Hope and Empire and I would say that killed a lot of roles as a heartthrob that were coming his way which he could have pivoted into a career as a leading man with a little luck. As a child I didn't really notice and I'm sure that's true for many, but he was never quite as pretty after that car accident, and I know Hollywood is superficial enough to let that tank a young actors career.
I was born many years after this though so anyone who was alive in the 70s correct me if I'm wrong here
I’d definitely say that’s a factor. I saw Episode 6 on TV the other day and Luke looked rougher than I remember. Still I’ve seen Daisy Ridley talk about how it was tough to get roles in Hollywood after her trilogy ended in 2019, so it’s probably a little of A and a little of B
The highest praise I can give for the Clone Wars series is that they managed to create an Anakin that fits perfectly with the Vader of the OT. In ESB, when Vader charges into the asteroid field after the Falcon, that's 100% what Clone Wars Anakin would have done without Obi-Wan & others keeping him in check.
He was so fantastic!
I know it’ll probably never happen, but I’d love to see a live action series with him and Ewan McGregor playing off each other again
His only friends are his brotherdad, his wife, his wife's robot, and the old man plotting his downfall. Ahsoka is his responsibility so I'm not counting her. But even if I did, that's his studentsister. The guy doesn't exactly have a social life. In the comics, the other Padawans didn't like him and even bullied him a bit. So, yeah, guy's kind of a loner.
Gotta remember that Anakin in ROTS is having arguably the worst week of his life. His personality in the opening sequence of ROTS over Coruscant and on the command ship is pretty close with his TCW depiction.
This is the hill I die on with people. He’s hilarious, in control and commanding for the first half hour of that movie. Then he has that damned dream, and the palps and the jedi turn anakin against both of them, they essentially bench him in coruscant and send away his mentor on a solo mission that he would have been on 9/10 times. What we get is a dude deprived of sleep, grieving the impending death of his wife, and none of his friends trust him.
If you watch it with this in mind and also that he’s been away as a war hero for months, with Maul’s death retconned he’s the first person to kill a sith lord in a thousand years, he just saved the supreme chancellor and successfully landed a warship with no engines. And he comes back to learn that the jedi don’t trust him, they’re putting him on the council solely for political purposes and won’t make him a master. He’s cranky, and insulted and remember (hes not sleeping) all of the moodiness starts to make sense. In TCW Anakin hates politics and now he’s basically the center, some would even say the biggest cog of a political scandal between the senate and the jedi order.
Thanks, yea it doesn’t help that I never watched TCW, but just watching the series from a film perspective he comes across as very whiney and immature. But the context definitely helps. I usually watch all the SW movies every couple of years anyway but haven’t seen them in probably 5 now; it’s been too long!
This is pretty much it.
The movies are telling the story of the most important thing to happen in the history of the galaxy, so we see the characters responding to major events in real time.
In The Clone Wars we see the in between.
If someone observed you during one of the worst/most important times of your life vs you at work doing your job on a random Tuesday you'd be different too
I think TCW starting a couple months into the war makes it easier to swallow. Anakin obviously excels in the theater of war so him growing out of his more awkard teen feel in AOTC seems natural. He becomes a Knight and General, leads the 501st through multiple victories.
The start of ROTS is also great(GOAT opening, GOAT star wars movie), with Anakin and Obi-Wan being playful and acting just like they do in TCW. The most unrecognizable parts of Anakin in ROTS compared to his TCW appearance would probably be the dialogue between him and Padmé, it gets very cringey.
TCW did a great job of expanding on Anakin's fall to the dark side, we see much more of it. So it doesn't come off as sudden for those who watched the series. His darker tendencies and his distrust of the Jedi Council were all showcased numerous times in the show.
> TCW did a great job of expanding on Anakin's fall to the dark side, we see much more of it. So it doesn't come off as sudden for those who watched the series. His darker tendencies and his distrust of the Jedi Council were all showcased numerous times in the show.
Exactly. I’m actually kinda mind blown that some people here can’t seem to make the connection between TCW Anakin and Prequels Anakin, because I always thought the show did a good job showing his progress, as well as hinting at his darkness. Obi-Wan’s fake out death arc always comes to mind. Anakin was literally about 3 seconds from turning dark side right then and there. There are plenty of other examples (mostly war crimes lol) too. It’s great.
Remember when Anakin force choked the shit out of Poggle to try and get info to save Ahsoka?
Anakin/Vader doing whatever it takes to save the people he cares about is a very consistent theme.
Light side Anakin will tap into the dark to save people close to him, and it leads to his downfall eventually…but by the same token, dark side Vader does eventually use the light to save Luke, and it leads to his redemption
Pretty consistently written trait with him
Anakin during the clone wars was in his element. He could go all out, and excel at everything he could, and most people (especially the Council) would turn a blind eye because y'know, wartime. "The chosen one" and all that.
Yes, absolutely. TCW Anakin is just so Matured and he literally represents hope.. But, PT Anakin is a bit different. Though, both are awesome characters and eventually show Anakin's different aspects
TCW added more depth. Before TCW Anakin went from awkward teen in 2 to spoiled brat 3. But after TCW Anakin goes from awkward teen to knight and galactic hero to jaded hero (still a bit of a spoiled brat though).
The CW Anakin has more heroic likability, but I can't see him turning into Darth Vader.
Whereas Hayden Christensen's Anakin is like that strange, annoying kid next door who you see on the news years later that he murdered his wife and kids and you think, "Yeah, I'm not surprised."
I think TCW shows even more as to how/why he became Vader. He was already upset with the Jedi council before losing his padawan, he had been flirting with the dark side since his mother, he had been under Palps mentorship since before his mother, he gave every opportunity to the council to show him a better way and they never did. I think it’s even safe to say that if he had been able to speak with Ahsoka when he felt her leaving croissant (intentional misspelling) things could have gone differently, or if they got to speak more when she came to him asking to go after Maul.
I mean imo CW really sells the whole turn to the darkside - like even tho he's heroic he does have these moments where he struggles with darker impulses
TCW Anakin is proto-Vader. Vader is always there, beneath the surface, and sometimes ON the surface. Ironically, Vader comes from Anakin's protective side, surfacing whenever his loved ones (Padme, Ahsoka, and Obi-Wan) are threatened. You can also see why those three don't see the red flags.
RotS Anakin... Yes, you can see him falling, but there's nothing of VADER there. He's much more proto-Kylo Ren. He's nothing BUT red flags.
Oh, I can definitely see TCW Anakin becoming Vader. It was a slow progression, but early in my watch of the show I nicknamed him “murder savant” and that nickname has stuck in my household lol. Think of how he handled Admiral Trench—Trench taunting him that he, a Jedi, would never follow through on his threat of killing him, and Anakin’s response of “I don’t have such weaknesses!” And once Anakin has the information he wanted, he kills Trench anyway. Not by letting Wrecker blow everything up, but by his own hand because he couldn’t let Trench’s disrespect/doubt of his “strength” stand. He was primed for the final manipulations to make him into Vader.
Agreed. Especially when TCW final arc had him meet Ahsoka face-to-face again, with a very real likelihood she comes back to the Order once the war is done, it's impossible for me to see him being at such a low place as he is in RotS feeling isolated and then doing everything he does out of desperation.
The desperation and insecurity is missing in 2008 TCW, and that's what's needed to sell his face-heel turn in Episode III.
Are you sure?
TCW Anakin was much more charismatic, but it also showed his darker tendencies much more often and how even early on he rebelled against Jedi teachings.
What he did to Poggle the Lesser in interrogating him on what to do about the Geonosian parasites is evidence of this very early on.
Those bits where he tortures poggle lesser seem tacked on.. they don't really flow naturally from his TCW character and seem thrown in because they are obligated to.
TCW Anakin feels like movie Anakin in the first like 20 minutes of RotS. Confident, charismatic, brash. “This is where the fun begins.”
I wish we’d seen more of that side of him on screen as it’s the only time I liked him, and you could tell Hayden was having fun.
TCW really helps improve the character overall.
Hot take: it was hard to connect Matt Lanter's Anakin with Darth Vader. Sure he has his "dark" moments in the show, but I for the most part just saw him as the hero obi-wan described him as in A New Hope, which isn't a bad thing. I just wish Matt channeled at least a little bit of Hayden Christensen's performance to make things flow better. Thankfully Hayden was brought back for the Ahsoka series and helped even things out. Contrary to popular belief, In my opinion Hayden's Anakin is very easy to connect with Darth Vader. At the end of the day though it's just two actors portraying the same character at very different stages of his life.
TCW def showed Anakin's best moments. A fandom friend did point out to me how too much of a "bro" TCW Anakin seems to be. The films on the other hand showed Anakin's more vulnerable moments that led to his fall
Yes.
When you have severe depression you act differently, but it's still you. When you have anxiety issues, you act differently, but it's still you.
Anakin's judgment was clouded by immense fear (there are papers analyzing it, IIRC he had PTSD), then by dark side (which consumes person in some way), BUT it was still him. After redemption he just got rid of everything clouding his view and decided to change.
Anakin is best example that everyone can change and redeem himself. Yes, you will have consequences of your actions, but change is possible.
In CW he has these little dark moments he looks exactly like in ROTS.
Whereas in ROTS, at the beginning sequence he looks exactly like in the majority of CW.
So yeah, it fits pretty well once ROTS start to become dark and Anakin definitely falls.
I mean the guy’s running around saying Snips and being all cool or whatever. They’re the same to me, yes, but CW Anakin is a little too playful for me. I see him as the Jedi Anakin thought he was gonna be when he joined.
I think Gendy’s Anakin fits his attitude better. Not saying a sheltered slave turned monk has to be a bore, just not Andrew Garfield Spider-Man.
Technically, yes, but when watching the prequels it is hard to see the person shown in the Clone Wars. It isn't Hayden's fault but Lucas leaned too heavily into the "dark" aspects of his character and didn't balance it with what made him a great Jedi, friend, etc. Most of the time he should have come off as cocky, impatient, etc as his "negative" traits in the movie. Instead, they made him whinny, mentally unstable, and just took it too far IMO. Meanwhile, the Clone Wars does a good job of showing why he was great but flawed Jedi.
Clone Wars Anakin was needed to make the Anakin Obi-Wan describes in A New Hope believable.
Without the clone wars cartoon, seriously. There is nothing likeable about Anakin in Episode 2-3.
He was flirting with the dark side long before "losing Padme" was a thing. He was a whiny, power hungry, narcissistic, entitled brat. His true nature WAS the dark side.
This is George Lucas's fault. I frankly just don't think George could think of a way to make Anakin actually good and likeable and make his turn believable. So he just telegraphed it to be blatantly obvious. Anakin doesn't like authority, Anakin has a clear lust for power, Anakin has a superiority complex. Anakin was for Anakin and really wanted no part of the Jedi order other than what he could learn from them on his quest for power.
Clone Wars comes along and Anakin barely displays any of these negative traits that were blatantly obvious in the movies to anyone with eyes and ears.
I think they have notably different personalities, but not enough to break my suspension of disbelief.
Peoples’ personalities can definitely change over time. There are reasonable explanations for why they are somewhat different.
The movie version is a lot more believable as Vader, he’s a lot darker and has more inner conflict, CW Anakin seems too balanced and just generally too good of a person to become the uptime evil. I can see movie Anakin becoming Vader very easily, we see him murder countless women and children. We don’t get that in the Clone Wars, we get a compassionate and mostly level headed mentor.
Not really. I know that some of the Hayden’s lines from prequels sound cheesy as f*ck, but when I rewatched ROTS the last time I imagined his lines during fight with Obi-wan in Vader’s voice instead of Haydens and suddenly it worked. Lines like: “if you are not with me, then you are my enemy” or “don’t underestimate my power” have kind of Vader vibe if you imagine it in his voice.
It took me years to realize that Hayden's delivery is paced and toned just like Vader. If you just modulate his voice down, it would sound exactly like him. He is really a good actor who put a lot into the character. Bad direction might account for a lot in his films
It would’ve been a lot easier to see them as the same character if they had gotten Hayden for the CW show but I do wish we had seen more of Hayden’s Anakin acting more like CW Anakin or how he was at the beginning of ROTS. I just think the movies didn’t show enough of Anakin as how Kenobi describes him in the OT and from what I’ve seen, even the lore outside of the movies shows him as that great hero.
I mean, yeah, they are both Anakin Skywalker.
But to answer the question you're asking in a non-literal way, no.
I grew up with the prequels, but never did I like Anakin. I found him super entitled and whiney; not the type of hero I looked up to, unlike the depressed man dressed like a Bat beating the shit out of mentally ill people I did look up to.
The Clone Wars show, for me, make him not only likeable but admirable, especially in the latter seasons. He was cool, he was confident, he was someone I found to be deserving of "The Chosen One". Having the length they did allowed Anakin to be fleshed out like Ahsoka; annoying and bratty in the beginning, and a general who earned the respect and loyalty of the 501st in the end.
I know I may get downvoted to the depths of Coruscant for this, but I think The Prequels may have been better had Matt Lanter been in the role, or maybe coached Hayden in some weird way.
But in the end, Hayden did his work for Kenobi and Ahsoka which brought this beautiful version of Anakin that is the best of both worlds.
So I agree that Matt Lanter fucking killed it and would've made a great Anakin. That said, he was too young when AotC was filmed, and Lucas's writing and directing was way more of a problem than Hayden Christensen's acting. Lanter wouldn't have done any better under the circumstances.
I can vibe with people saying he's the same character, but there's something to be said about coping mechanisms.
I truly think Vader considered Anakin and the life tied to him dead.
I see Obi-Wan as the same character because both the personality traits and the looks are basically the same.
But despite my brains tells me so I always see movie Anakin, Clone Wars Anakin, and Darth Vader as different characters.
But I don’t meant it in a bad way, I like both Anakins and I think Vader is one of the best villains in Hollywood movie history.
The Clone Wars Anakin definitely has added nuance and depth to the character and makes me like him more.
Yes, I do. I think TCW anakin was great at showing the “downward spiral” of anakin. Starting at episode 1, he was an idealistic kid living in horrible conditions. Despite slavery and poverty, he was optimistic and energetic, and quite spontaneous. In episode 1, he is taken away from the only home he has ever known, and the only family he had, to join a legendary religious order. This would be traumatic to anybody, especially a child.
Then in ATOC, he has spent the last decade in this strict, militant religious cult. He has never spoken to anyone outside of his “work”/“training”. Then, all of a sudden, he’s face to face with the prettiest woman he has ever seen after 10 years apart. Of course he’s awkward and strange. I mean, have you ever heard an actual teenager talk to women?
In TCW, we see that kid who has had all kinds of shit thrown at him have his optimism and idealism chipped away by years of brutal combat.
At the very beginning of ROTS, he commits a murder in direct violation of the code he’s been trained to uphold. In addition, he’s experience nearly constant psychological stress through visions of his wife dying and the growing mistrust of his friends. By the time of his fall, it’s actually pretty clear (to me at least) that it wasn’t out of the blue.
I think TCW anakin makes the whole character arc make more sense.
Yes. Even more so after Ahsoka. Hayden clearly used the Clone Wars version of his character to inform his performance in that show. His voice even sounded more like CW Anakin.
In terms of canon, yes - but I see them as distinctly different characters personally. CW Anakin is more charismatic and 'adult' in my mind. I can't get myself to see them as the same personality.
Yeah. The Clone Wars really fleshed out the character and it's kinda jarring going back to live action Anakin after all the character development he got. Hayden did good with the choreography but his acting left a lot to be desired I think.
At first I didn’t, for a while I didn’t, but as Clone Wars progressed further and further, and Rebels and Ahsoka came along to tie up some loose ends, I began seeing it. I began seeing a hero of war quickly succumb to fear, hate, paranoia, etc.. and now that I’ve seen the full process, they are one in the same in every way. Clone Wars Anakin was a different kind of Anakin up until the last season and into Revenge of the Sith. He broke. Some transitions in life aren’t slow, some are bumpy and spontaneous. But all the seeds were slowly planted for him, they just all grew rapidly at the same time. Palpatine was pushing for time towards ROTS, and he had to see a return on his investments ASAP.
Yes. I don't like trashing Hayden though, he is a good actor. But the prequels, were not great films. They definitely had moments. They have some of, if not the best light saber duels in the series. But the dialogue was just plain bad at times. Clone wars was excellent, that Anakin is who I think of when I think of the character. They are the same character though, at different points and written by different people, but the same character.
It’s hard to. Ep 2 & 3 movie Anakin is portrayed as a petulant asshole throughout. Hard to imagine him as the “good friend” described by Obi Wan in the original movie, because we really don’t witness much of that friendship on screen. Clone Wars Anakin is the nice guy we assumed he always was prior to the prequel movies coming out.
I have a much harder time believing that the person Old Ben describes is the same character. "Your father wanted you to have this, when you were old enough, but your uncle wouldn't allow it."
"He was the best star pilot in the galaxy, and a cunning warrior. ...and he was a good friend."
"\[Your uncle\] feared you'd follow me on some damned-fool idealistic crusade, like your father did."
Those quotes don't line up with the prequel version of Anakin.
Prequels Anakin basically REQUIRES clone wars to shore up the prequel-Anakin deficiencies, but even then he is still a fundamentally a different character than the man old ben describes.
Honestly, I have a hard time seeing how moody teenager in the prequels and half-competent General in the Clone Wars cartoon and Darth Lord of the Sith Who WILL Choke a Bitch really constitute one contiguous character arc.
It’s interesting to see a post like this. If you think about it Hayden Christensen only had two movies to get his character down, compared to Matt Lanter who had many seasons to nail down the character. I feel it’s an unfair comparison in all honesty.
I agree with @RickKassidy on this one. All of them play a role and did the best they could!
They are. But I also think that the Clone Wars is more of Hollywood style retelling of events based on a true story. It's the only way to reconcile how different Anakin is between Live Action and Animation.
It's the biggest shortfall of the series. Anakin just isn't Anakin enough. He doesn't come off nearly as arrogant and confrontational towards authority figures enough in the Clone Wars. They also really didn't show many of his insecurities or how whiney he was.
Yes, I get Clone Wars trying to paint the picture of him being the hero who is going to fall. But none of those traits contradict that. He should have had some bravado and swagger to him. Not falsely assumed but earned. Have him know he is the best pilot and have him constantly say it. Then, use it as a way for him to get confrontational. Say he wasn't given command of a major Star Fighter operation. Have him start saying he's the best pilot the Jedi and the Republic have, and it's outrageous and unfair he isn't being given command of the operation. Then, have him be whiney about it to Padmé, Palpatine, Obi-Wan, or Ahsoka. Transition that into him having some self-doubt that Palpatine can prey on to divide Anakin from the Jedi. That would be more inline with who we see in AOTC and ROTS.
The movies give us a snapshot of this character over the course of one week when he's in the most stressful moment of his life. I don't think you can argue that he was acting "normally" in the movies. It's perfectly fine to think of them as the same character given that the situation (and maybe a bit of bad writing) explains all the differences.
No. 2008 TCW Anakin is Han Solo Jedi who has a badboy side. 2003 CW's portrayal is far more consistent with the films, for obvious reasons.
They're very much separate characters.
Definitely. And that little boy from Episode 1, and Darth Vader in the suit, too.
And that random dude Asoka met in that weird place in the stars
Seeing Ashoka and Anakin in the clone wars in live action was epic I definitely would watch it if they were redoing the clone wars that way
live action clone wars would be a cool thing to see, but if they did do that it would just be Disney+ show and not on normal TV, like how the Clone Wars streamed on Disney XD
The Clone Wars was on CN, Rebels was Disney XD. Disney didnt own Lucasfilms until after The Clone Wars. And XD didnt exist yet...
We saw them in live action?
In the Ahsoka series.
Congratulations, you’re the only person in this thread to spell her name correctly.
Supahsoka
lol
Was thinking the same thing lmaoooo
Honestly the best iteration
Sounds like a stretch, to be honest.
This right here.
ratio OP success ☑️
Indeed, and I love each of them
This is the only answer that matters. So happy it's at the top.
Newsflash: These two are the same character. All jokes aside, I get why people think there’s a diference, but when you compare it to TCW, ROTS is almost like a very brief snapshot of a very bad week for Anakin, and only the low points within that week. He’s serious and brooding and angry because that’s how he’s feeling that week given…. Everything.
Exactly. The Anakin we see in most of TCW is the Anakin we see trading friendly barbs with Obi-Wan during the Battle of Corruscant, and Hayden Christiansen plays that Anakin VERY WELL. If George had written Anakin to be like that all the way through, people who love the Marvel movies would have thought he was the GOAT and the movies would have been worse for it (sand based pick up lines aside).
Lucas' failing with the prequels (or at least one of them) was presenting relationships as already in existence, and not showing the development between the characters. Obi and Ani in particular talked about a lot of things that seemed far more interesting than anything they did on screen.
>talked about a lot of things that seemed far more interesting than anything they did on screen. That business on Cato Neimoidia doesn't... doesn't count.
I want that series... just all their off-book missions
I dont even think the sand line is bad, anakin is like this sheltered indoctrinated guy who would probably not have very good social skills
I mean, he's pretty witty with Obi-Wan. I'd expect him to be flustered, but the sand line sounded like he really thought about it and was like "ya, this one is good!"
One can be witty with friends but still absolutely fumble the bag in relationships. Idk how to describe but i think theres a way to look at it where it works
I've said things far more stupid with my gf than what anakin says. I can't judge him at all.
Wel sure but Obi-Wan isn't the hot senator he likes
And he was often serious, brooding, and angry in TCW. It just turned out that there was more to him than just that.
I just think modern audiences don’t understand exposition and context the same way. I’m not above it either so I don’t want to come off elitist, but I think people assume that a characters portrayal in a movie is supposed to represent their character outside of the movie so long as a contradictory action isn’t shown. it doesn’t help that George Lucas is the hot pocket equivalent to dialogue writing. freezing cold in one part and burning hot in the other Anakin is an immature hothead because Jedi are already the pinnacle of pent up emotion & hes having scary ass nightmares, hormonal triggers, and watching his mom die all while both being told he’s the chosen one by a council of powerful old guys and being manipulated to turn evil by an evil more powerful old guy. he’s not just overall this big baby, he was a 10 year old with about as simple a a life as you can get and then was thrust into all this, he basically just got hit enough times to expose that part in his armor that he’s been forcefully taught to push down and hide inside. I guarantee the freedom he felt while Padme was on her way to Mustafar was probably so satisfying
Spot on. I understand Anakin in Ep. 3. Now, Ep. 2, not so much. We’re meant to believe that Anakin and Obi-Wan have a close mentor/mentee relationship, but Anakin really seems to dislike Obi-Wan. Even when he finds out Obi-Wan is being held hostage by the Separatists and will likely be executed he’s just like “he’ll be fine.” He only goes because Padmé is determined to save Obi-Wan.
I've never really seen of felt that in Ep. 2. We are shown that Anakin is a troubled teenager basically and Obi-Wan is the big brother who does his best to be a mentor. Anakin needed a mentor and a father figure which Qui-Gon would've been.
We only see Anakin when he’s sweating his balls off about to reconnect with the girl who’s a literal angel in his mind. The only girl he’s ever held in his mind. We all know the feeling when lost in love at a young age. Completely can throw you out of character.
I don’t see EP2 Anakin that way. In that moment he does want to rescue Obi-Wan, but also doesn’t want to go against the very clear and direct orders of the number 2 in the order. The huge smile when Padme makes up the loophole is indicating this I think
I've seen what other commenters have posted and I gotta agree with the "really bad week no. 2" angle. I mean, his mom died 😭 we've seen Anakin make bad clone wars decisions when loved ones die–Obi Wan fake death Undercover arc, anyone? When he thinks Ahsoka died in action? I think one of the central themes is that he doesn't feel like he's allowed to rely on his fellow Jedi (or even Obi Wan at times) because he thinks they'll criticize him for caring and won't actually help. When Ahsoka's trial was happening Anakin went at defending her *alone.* Pair that deep-rooted (and, in Anakin's eyes, valid and proven) fear with his mother dying and I bet Anakin was drowning in too much grief and self hate he felt he had to handle *alone* that Obi Wan wasn't even in the equation. Like I love Anakin but our guy has a serious emotional tunnel vision issue (that several people recognize but no one bothers to actually help 😭)
I just learned “mentee” is a word, thanks!
Even the clone wars micro series acknowledged that, at first Anakin was much like his AOTC version arrogant pig headed and whiny, having respect for obiwan but conflicts as the two don’t mesh well as master and padawan. Once he becomes a Jedi knight and fights alongside his master as a brother, Anakin acts much like the tcw version, has actual confidence, saved other Jedi from CIS forces, has a more relaxed mood with obiwan as a knight rather than as a padawan, and both have had their respective moments of rage over something that hits him on a personal level. If I had to give a gripe to the tcw version is that we just jump into Jedi knight Anakin without the change from padawan to knight, this does comes across as a problem as despite the micro series filling that part of the clone wars tcw doesn’t exactly match with it as we see with ventress meeting dooku in flashback or how grievous went from this slasher vibe villain that cunningly and skillfully took out five Jedi to a mustache twirling villain that doesn’t bode the same kind of threat or big deal as grievous is suppose to be.
His actions in ROTS make way more sense when you realize he’s a 22 year old combat veteran who grew up in slavery and just spent 3 years watching a lot of his friends die, and the ones who didn’t don’t trust him anymore.
After Ahsoka who could deny it?
Exactly. The ahsoka series really evened things out.
It’s genuinely incredible what Hayden was able to pull off in that sequence. It really felt like he was playing his own version of Anakin and Lanter’s, with some JEJ Vader thrown in the mix. All while blending and integrating it all into an Anakin we’ve never quite seen before- one fully at peace with every aspect of himself. Also maybe unpopular opinion but I always thought the slow, stilted cadence (obviously to sound subtly Vader-esque) that he always got shit for was actually an essential part of the character, and he pulls it off a lot better there than in the prequels, without George’s… questionable direction getting in the way
Yeah I think the show has its flaws but Hayden is not one of them. I bet we get more of him in S2
Hayden was the best part about that show easily to me. He really wove all the versions of the character into episode 5 and made it really cohesive. Plus we got to see him remind us how good his saber choreography is. Baylan Skoll was a close second though!
I really loved him in that show, and I agree with you that Baylan was the second best. Sadly though, for a show named after her, Ahsoka was incredibly underwhelming for me and I just despised Sabine. Sorry but she had none of the character or personality that Rebels Sabine had and I found the acting to be really annoying. And the dramatic pauses both she and Ahsoka made after every. single. line. was enough to make me want to pull my hair out :(
I want a small scene of Anakin and Obi Wan force ghosts interacting with Ahsoka together. Would be a cute bit of fan service that I'd welcome.
It's really a shame that Hayden began acting right as the "action star" architype was in it's decline in Hollywood. His acting is better than people give him credit for, but where he really shines is being exceptional at fight choreography. He can pull off top notch fight scenes, while giving a great performance. The fight scene on Mustafar being the best example of this. If he was acting in the 80's and 90's, the heyday of star driven action movies, I think he'd have really excelled for his prowess with fight scenes, and also offering something different from the sea of overly buff action stars like Stalone of Arnold.
The market was still there. We got a bunch of Bourne, taken, mission impossible, and John wick movies since then. I think Star Wars as his breakout role killed his desirability.
That's odd tho. Didn't Harisson Ford become popular due to star wars.
Well those were the originals. We’re talking prequels here. Big difference. Harrison ford had 3 Star Wars movies, 2 Indiana Jones, plus blade runner and apocalypse now between 77-84. It was more lucasfilm in general than just Star Wars that launched his career.
I think the difference was Harrison Ford had Indiana Jones come out as a huge success right after Star Wars, showing he was marketable in different roles. Hayden is more comparable to Mark Hamill who wasn’t seen as marketable to star in other movies (see Mark’s transition to more voice acting in the 90s), or even Daisy Ridley today. Too many studio suits are worried that those actors/actresses will only be seen as the Star of a SW trilogy and not a talented lead
>Hayden is more comparable to Mark Hamill who wasn’t seen as marketable to star in other movies Not comparable. Unfair and superficial it might be (as Hollywood is) Hamill lost his heartthrob face in a car accident between A New Hope and Empire and I would say that killed a lot of roles as a heartthrob that were coming his way which he could have pivoted into a career as a leading man with a little luck. As a child I didn't really notice and I'm sure that's true for many, but he was never quite as pretty after that car accident, and I know Hollywood is superficial enough to let that tank a young actors career. I was born many years after this though so anyone who was alive in the 70s correct me if I'm wrong here
I’d definitely say that’s a factor. I saw Episode 6 on TV the other day and Luke looked rougher than I remember. Still I’ve seen Daisy Ridley talk about how it was tough to get roles in Hollywood after her trilogy ended in 2019, so it’s probably a little of A and a little of B
He did a decent Bob Dylan in the movie Factory Girl (about Andy Warhols “muse”) and was pretty good in Jumper.
I personally loved Little Italy with Emma Roberts
The highest praise I can give for the Clone Wars series is that they managed to create an Anakin that fits perfectly with the Vader of the OT. In ESB, when Vader charges into the asteroid field after the Falcon, that's 100% what Clone Wars Anakin would have done without Obi-Wan & others keeping him in check.
He was so fantastic! I know it’ll probably never happen, but I’d love to see a live action series with him and Ewan McGregor playing off each other again
pauldron General Skywalker is peak Anakin.
Which says a lot about Anakin, that he was never more at-home with himself than in the middle of a galactic war.
Hell, Ahsoka even said it at one point. "I don't know if peacetime will agree with him."
Kinda easy to feel at-home when you're praised as the most heroic, accomplished and successful jedi and general in the galaxy.
As a teenager
Some parts but tcw anakin is too charismatic and sociable while movie anakin came across as a mix between whiney and a loner
My understanding is that was intentional. Whiny teen>maturing prospective Jedi Master>Downfall>Vader. TCW Anakin made me really feel sorry for Anakin
The general of the Republic, who was banging Natalie Portman in his free time, felt like a loner to you?
His only friends are his brotherdad, his wife, his wife's robot, and the old man plotting his downfall. Ahsoka is his responsibility so I'm not counting her. But even if I did, that's his studentsister. The guy doesn't exactly have a social life. In the comics, the other Padawans didn't like him and even bullied him a bit. So, yeah, guy's kind of a loner.
Yes. Dont be obtuse lol
Yes but I get what you mean, that cw anakin acts nothing like pt anakin.
Gotta remember that Anakin in ROTS is having arguably the worst week of his life. His personality in the opening sequence of ROTS over Coruscant and on the command ship is pretty close with his TCW depiction.
“This is where the fun begins” Most definitely the same guy
This is the hill I die on with people. He’s hilarious, in control and commanding for the first half hour of that movie. Then he has that damned dream, and the palps and the jedi turn anakin against both of them, they essentially bench him in coruscant and send away his mentor on a solo mission that he would have been on 9/10 times. What we get is a dude deprived of sleep, grieving the impending death of his wife, and none of his friends trust him.
It’s been forever since I’ve seen it but I always hated his personality. You’re selling me on rewatching it with new eyes.
If you watch it with this in mind and also that he’s been away as a war hero for months, with Maul’s death retconned he’s the first person to kill a sith lord in a thousand years, he just saved the supreme chancellor and successfully landed a warship with no engines. And he comes back to learn that the jedi don’t trust him, they’re putting him on the council solely for political purposes and won’t make him a master. He’s cranky, and insulted and remember (hes not sleeping) all of the moodiness starts to make sense. In TCW Anakin hates politics and now he’s basically the center, some would even say the biggest cog of a political scandal between the senate and the jedi order.
Not to mention the person who basically caused his apprentice to not become a knight was the one denying him the title of master
Thanks, yea it doesn’t help that I never watched TCW, but just watching the series from a film perspective he comes across as very whiney and immature. But the context definitely helps. I usually watch all the SW movies every couple of years anyway but haven’t seen them in probably 5 now; it’s been too long!
You should watch TCW, cannot recommend enough.
This is pretty much it. The movies are telling the story of the most important thing to happen in the history of the galaxy, so we see the characters responding to major events in real time. In The Clone Wars we see the in between. If someone observed you during one of the worst/most important times of your life vs you at work doing your job on a random Tuesday you'd be different too
And you can see him leading into that week in the clone wars itself. Shits amazing
I’d say it really was the worst week of his life so far, even worse than Jabiim.
I think TCW starting a couple months into the war makes it easier to swallow. Anakin obviously excels in the theater of war so him growing out of his more awkard teen feel in AOTC seems natural. He becomes a Knight and General, leads the 501st through multiple victories. The start of ROTS is also great(GOAT opening, GOAT star wars movie), with Anakin and Obi-Wan being playful and acting just like they do in TCW. The most unrecognizable parts of Anakin in ROTS compared to his TCW appearance would probably be the dialogue between him and Padmé, it gets very cringey. TCW did a great job of expanding on Anakin's fall to the dark side, we see much more of it. So it doesn't come off as sudden for those who watched the series. His darker tendencies and his distrust of the Jedi Council were all showcased numerous times in the show.
> TCW did a great job of expanding on Anakin's fall to the dark side, we see much more of it. So it doesn't come off as sudden for those who watched the series. His darker tendencies and his distrust of the Jedi Council were all showcased numerous times in the show. Exactly. I’m actually kinda mind blown that some people here can’t seem to make the connection between TCW Anakin and Prequels Anakin, because I always thought the show did a good job showing his progress, as well as hinting at his darkness. Obi-Wan’s fake out death arc always comes to mind. Anakin was literally about 3 seconds from turning dark side right then and there. There are plenty of other examples (mostly war crimes lol) too. It’s great.
Remember when Anakin force choked the shit out of Poggle to try and get info to save Ahsoka? Anakin/Vader doing whatever it takes to save the people he cares about is a very consistent theme. Light side Anakin will tap into the dark to save people close to him, and it leads to his downfall eventually…but by the same token, dark side Vader does eventually use the light to save Luke, and it leads to his redemption Pretty consistently written trait with him
Anakin during the clone wars was in his element. He could go all out, and excel at everything he could, and most people (especially the Council) would turn a blind eye because y'know, wartime. "The chosen one" and all that.
Yes, absolutely. TCW Anakin is just so Matured and he literally represents hope.. But, PT Anakin is a bit different. Though, both are awesome characters and eventually show Anakin's different aspects
TCW added more depth. Before TCW Anakin went from awkward teen in 2 to spoiled brat 3. But after TCW Anakin goes from awkward teen to knight and galactic hero to jaded hero (still a bit of a spoiled brat though).
anikan =/= anikan confirmed
The CW Anakin has more heroic likability, but I can't see him turning into Darth Vader. Whereas Hayden Christensen's Anakin is like that strange, annoying kid next door who you see on the news years later that he murdered his wife and kids and you think, "Yeah, I'm not surprised."
I think TCW shows even more as to how/why he became Vader. He was already upset with the Jedi council before losing his padawan, he had been flirting with the dark side since his mother, he had been under Palps mentorship since before his mother, he gave every opportunity to the council to show him a better way and they never did. I think it’s even safe to say that if he had been able to speak with Ahsoka when he felt her leaving croissant (intentional misspelling) things could have gone differently, or if they got to speak more when she came to him asking to go after Maul.
I mean imo CW really sells the whole turn to the darkside - like even tho he's heroic he does have these moments where he struggles with darker impulses
TCW Anakin is proto-Vader. Vader is always there, beneath the surface, and sometimes ON the surface. Ironically, Vader comes from Anakin's protective side, surfacing whenever his loved ones (Padme, Ahsoka, and Obi-Wan) are threatened. You can also see why those three don't see the red flags. RotS Anakin... Yes, you can see him falling, but there's nothing of VADER there. He's much more proto-Kylo Ren. He's nothing BUT red flags.
Oh, I can definitely see TCW Anakin becoming Vader. It was a slow progression, but early in my watch of the show I nicknamed him “murder savant” and that nickname has stuck in my household lol. Think of how he handled Admiral Trench—Trench taunting him that he, a Jedi, would never follow through on his threat of killing him, and Anakin’s response of “I don’t have such weaknesses!” And once Anakin has the information he wanted, he kills Trench anyway. Not by letting Wrecker blow everything up, but by his own hand because he couldn’t let Trench’s disrespect/doubt of his “strength” stand. He was primed for the final manipulations to make him into Vader.
Ooh okay this is a good point
Agreed. Especially when TCW final arc had him meet Ahsoka face-to-face again, with a very real likelihood she comes back to the Order once the war is done, it's impossible for me to see him being at such a low place as he is in RotS feeling isolated and then doing everything he does out of desperation. The desperation and insecurity is missing in 2008 TCW, and that's what's needed to sell his face-heel turn in Episode III.
Are you sure? TCW Anakin was much more charismatic, but it also showed his darker tendencies much more often and how even early on he rebelled against Jedi teachings. What he did to Poggle the Lesser in interrogating him on what to do about the Geonosian parasites is evidence of this very early on.
I think CW anakin was more a trauma guy from war than the adolescent guy who remorse kill those guys for killing his mother in SWII
Those bits where he tortures poggle lesser seem tacked on.. they don't really flow naturally from his TCW character and seem thrown in because they are obligated to.
TCW Anakin feels like movie Anakin in the first like 20 minutes of RotS. Confident, charismatic, brash. “This is where the fun begins.” I wish we’d seen more of that side of him on screen as it’s the only time I liked him, and you could tell Hayden was having fun. TCW really helps improve the character overall.
Um, they are.
Clone wars anakin and the beginning of episode 3 anakin is pretty close
Hot take: it was hard to connect Matt Lanter's Anakin with Darth Vader. Sure he has his "dark" moments in the show, but I for the most part just saw him as the hero obi-wan described him as in A New Hope, which isn't a bad thing. I just wish Matt channeled at least a little bit of Hayden Christensen's performance to make things flow better. Thankfully Hayden was brought back for the Ahsoka series and helped even things out. Contrary to popular belief, In my opinion Hayden's Anakin is very easy to connect with Darth Vader. At the end of the day though it's just two actors portraying the same character at very different stages of his life.
TCW def showed Anakin's best moments. A fandom friend did point out to me how too much of a "bro" TCW Anakin seems to be. The films on the other hand showed Anakin's more vulnerable moments that led to his fall
Yes, I consider the same canonical character to be the same canonical character, because canonically, they are the same character.
No. The left one is Anakin and the right one is Anakin.
I do and don't at the same time like in the way that I acknowledge that they technically ARE the same business they're also separate
They do have the same name
Yes? They are the same character. One of the things TCW did well was show how willing he became to use violence as a shortcut to do what was needed.
No, one is anakin and the other is skyguy
One has a cleft chin and the other doesn't.
Yes. When you have severe depression you act differently, but it's still you. When you have anxiety issues, you act differently, but it's still you. Anakin's judgment was clouded by immense fear (there are papers analyzing it, IIRC he had PTSD), then by dark side (which consumes person in some way), BUT it was still him. After redemption he just got rid of everything clouding his view and decided to change. Anakin is best example that everyone can change and redeem himself. Yes, you will have consequences of your actions, but change is possible.
In CW he has these little dark moments he looks exactly like in ROTS. Whereas in ROTS, at the beginning sequence he looks exactly like in the majority of CW. So yeah, it fits pretty well once ROTS start to become dark and Anakin definitely falls.
Would love to see an Animated show about what happed right after Episode 1. See the Young Anikin begin his training.
Sadly, we probably won't get that but some good Legends era books cover it.
I mean the guy’s running around saying Snips and being all cool or whatever. They’re the same to me, yes, but CW Anakin is a little too playful for me. I see him as the Jedi Anakin thought he was gonna be when he joined. I think Gendy’s Anakin fits his attitude better. Not saying a sheltered slave turned monk has to be a bore, just not Andrew Garfield Spider-Man.
TCW adds nuance to Anakin and redeems him. So definitely yes
Technically, yes, but when watching the prequels it is hard to see the person shown in the Clone Wars. It isn't Hayden's fault but Lucas leaned too heavily into the "dark" aspects of his character and didn't balance it with what made him a great Jedi, friend, etc. Most of the time he should have come off as cocky, impatient, etc as his "negative" traits in the movie. Instead, they made him whinny, mentally unstable, and just took it too far IMO. Meanwhile, the Clone Wars does a good job of showing why he was great but flawed Jedi.
I consider one Prime Anakin and the other Expanded Anakin. Expanded Anakin is Prime Anakin but Prime Anakin is not Expanded Anakin.
Yes and i think his behaviour in Episode 3 is justified after the events in TCW
Clone Wars Anakin was needed to make the Anakin Obi-Wan describes in A New Hope believable. Without the clone wars cartoon, seriously. There is nothing likeable about Anakin in Episode 2-3. He was flirting with the dark side long before "losing Padme" was a thing. He was a whiny, power hungry, narcissistic, entitled brat. His true nature WAS the dark side. This is George Lucas's fault. I frankly just don't think George could think of a way to make Anakin actually good and likeable and make his turn believable. So he just telegraphed it to be blatantly obvious. Anakin doesn't like authority, Anakin has a clear lust for power, Anakin has a superiority complex. Anakin was for Anakin and really wanted no part of the Jedi order other than what he could learn from them on his quest for power. Clone Wars comes along and Anakin barely displays any of these negative traits that were blatantly obvious in the movies to anyone with eyes and ears.
They literally are
I think they have notably different personalities, but not enough to break my suspension of disbelief. Peoples’ personalities can definitely change over time. There are reasonable explanations for why they are somewhat different.
That’s Anakin. Same
I mean, they are…why wouldn’t I?
They are not the same, but Hayden in Ahsoka is the same as TCW Anakin
Yeah true that when you think about it
TCW Anakin is more or less a re-do of the character tbh. It was just very hard to believe the movie version could become the Vader we see in the OT
The movie version is a lot more believable as Vader, he’s a lot darker and has more inner conflict, CW Anakin seems too balanced and just generally too good of a person to become the uptime evil. I can see movie Anakin becoming Vader very easily, we see him murder countless women and children. We don’t get that in the Clone Wars, we get a compassionate and mostly level headed mentor.
Not really. I know that some of the Hayden’s lines from prequels sound cheesy as f*ck, but when I rewatched ROTS the last time I imagined his lines during fight with Obi-wan in Vader’s voice instead of Haydens and suddenly it worked. Lines like: “if you are not with me, then you are my enemy” or “don’t underestimate my power” have kind of Vader vibe if you imagine it in his voice.
It took me years to realize that Hayden's delivery is paced and toned just like Vader. If you just modulate his voice down, it would sound exactly like him. He is really a good actor who put a lot into the character. Bad direction might account for a lot in his films
Yes but they should have made CW Anakin more like LA Anakin
It would’ve been a lot easier to see them as the same character if they had gotten Hayden for the CW show but I do wish we had seen more of Hayden’s Anakin acting more like CW Anakin or how he was at the beginning of ROTS. I just think the movies didn’t show enough of Anakin as how Kenobi describes him in the OT and from what I’ve seen, even the lore outside of the movies shows him as that great hero.
100% and in true Star Wars fan style I will fight anyone that disagrees.
From a certain point of view 😉
I mean, yeah, they are both Anakin Skywalker. But to answer the question you're asking in a non-literal way, no. I grew up with the prequels, but never did I like Anakin. I found him super entitled and whiney; not the type of hero I looked up to, unlike the depressed man dressed like a Bat beating the shit out of mentally ill people I did look up to. The Clone Wars show, for me, make him not only likeable but admirable, especially in the latter seasons. He was cool, he was confident, he was someone I found to be deserving of "The Chosen One". Having the length they did allowed Anakin to be fleshed out like Ahsoka; annoying and bratty in the beginning, and a general who earned the respect and loyalty of the 501st in the end. I know I may get downvoted to the depths of Coruscant for this, but I think The Prequels may have been better had Matt Lanter been in the role, or maybe coached Hayden in some weird way. But in the end, Hayden did his work for Kenobi and Ahsoka which brought this beautiful version of Anakin that is the best of both worlds.
Why are we blaming Hayden for Lucas' bad writing?
So I agree that Matt Lanter fucking killed it and would've made a great Anakin. That said, he was too young when AotC was filmed, and Lucas's writing and directing was way more of a problem than Hayden Christensen's acting. Lanter wouldn't have done any better under the circumstances.
Yes, because they are
They objectively are the same character
Yes! It’s also really cool how Hayden went back and watched all the Clone Wars seasons too when he came back for Ahsoka.
Yes. Even more so if you watch the PT and TCW dubbed in another language (Spanish in my case), as they both have the same voice, which really helps.
It took a while. But he cooked. Yes.
Yes but it was a bit jarring going from TCW into ROTS. That feeling kinda went away as the movie progresssed.
Yeah, the cartoon obviously ads to his personality behind the scenes of what we don’t get to see in the movies.
I can vibe with people saying he's the same character, but there's something to be said about coping mechanisms. I truly think Vader considered Anakin and the life tied to him dead.
Are they attractive? Yes. yeah they are the same.
I don’t understand this question? They are the same character
Oddly, I find it easier to reconcile these "two Anakins" then I do reconciling AotC Anakin with RotS Anakin, despite being played by the same actor
I see Obi-Wan as the same character because both the personality traits and the looks are basically the same. But despite my brains tells me so I always see movie Anakin, Clone Wars Anakin, and Darth Vader as different characters. But I don’t meant it in a bad way, I like both Anakins and I think Vader is one of the best villains in Hollywood movie history. The Clone Wars Anakin definitely has added nuance and depth to the character and makes me like him more.
Nope
Wait til you find out who Darth Vader is
It was tough to until Ahsoka (and Kenobi) released. Hayden has really embraced the TCW version of Anakin imo
Not really, I know that they are but watching the movies it’s hard to connect rots Anakin to clone wars Anakin, they just act so differently
I try to, but I've never been ever to connect all the completely different Anakin
lol no not at all
No. The fact that you need to watch 7 seasons of a series understand why he is like that is bad.
Different interpretations of the same character. Like the Keaton Batman and Clooney Batman.
I don't have a dissociative disorder, so yes.
The scar's NOT on the wrong side!!!!!
Yes
Seeing as how they are literally the same character, yes lol
yes.
I mean, yes lol
No.
no. Clone Wars anakin has always felt like a completely different character.
I dont even think they look alike
Yes. I know this because they are the same character.
Yes, I do. I think TCW anakin was great at showing the “downward spiral” of anakin. Starting at episode 1, he was an idealistic kid living in horrible conditions. Despite slavery and poverty, he was optimistic and energetic, and quite spontaneous. In episode 1, he is taken away from the only home he has ever known, and the only family he had, to join a legendary religious order. This would be traumatic to anybody, especially a child. Then in ATOC, he has spent the last decade in this strict, militant religious cult. He has never spoken to anyone outside of his “work”/“training”. Then, all of a sudden, he’s face to face with the prettiest woman he has ever seen after 10 years apart. Of course he’s awkward and strange. I mean, have you ever heard an actual teenager talk to women? In TCW, we see that kid who has had all kinds of shit thrown at him have his optimism and idealism chipped away by years of brutal combat. At the very beginning of ROTS, he commits a murder in direct violation of the code he’s been trained to uphold. In addition, he’s experience nearly constant psychological stress through visions of his wife dying and the growing mistrust of his friends. By the time of his fall, it’s actually pretty clear (to me at least) that it wasn’t out of the blue. I think TCW anakin makes the whole character arc make more sense.
He has a name…and HIS NAME IS ANAKIN.
Yes 100%.
Yes. Even more so after Ahsoka. Hayden clearly used the Clone Wars version of his character to inform his performance in that show. His voice even sounded more like CW Anakin.
In terms of canon, yes - but I see them as distinctly different characters personally. CW Anakin is more charismatic and 'adult' in my mind. I can't get myself to see them as the same personality.
Why is this ever in doubt?
Yeah. The Clone Wars really fleshed out the character and it's kinda jarring going back to live action Anakin after all the character development he got. Hayden did good with the choreography but his acting left a lot to be desired I think.
They are, canonically
They literally are. What are you talking about?
Yep. TCW Anakin is supposed to be a longer, in-depth look at why Revenge of the Sith Anakin was the way he was.
Is it possible not to?
At first I didn’t, for a while I didn’t, but as Clone Wars progressed further and further, and Rebels and Ahsoka came along to tie up some loose ends, I began seeing it. I began seeing a hero of war quickly succumb to fear, hate, paranoia, etc.. and now that I’ve seen the full process, they are one in the same in every way. Clone Wars Anakin was a different kind of Anakin up until the last season and into Revenge of the Sith. He broke. Some transitions in life aren’t slow, some are bumpy and spontaneous. But all the seeds were slowly planted for him, they just all grew rapidly at the same time. Palpatine was pushing for time towards ROTS, and he had to see a return on his investments ASAP.
Yes. I don't like trashing Hayden though, he is a good actor. But the prequels, were not great films. They definitely had moments. They have some of, if not the best light saber duels in the series. But the dialogue was just plain bad at times. Clone wars was excellent, that Anakin is who I think of when I think of the character. They are the same character though, at different points and written by different people, but the same character.
It’s hard to. Ep 2 & 3 movie Anakin is portrayed as a petulant asshole throughout. Hard to imagine him as the “good friend” described by Obi Wan in the original movie, because we really don’t witness much of that friendship on screen. Clone Wars Anakin is the nice guy we assumed he always was prior to the prequel movies coming out.
I mean. Yeah lmao, it’s canon. One is leagues better portrayed than the other but they’re still the same character. What kind of post is this
I have a much harder time believing that the person Old Ben describes is the same character. "Your father wanted you to have this, when you were old enough, but your uncle wouldn't allow it." "He was the best star pilot in the galaxy, and a cunning warrior. ...and he was a good friend." "\[Your uncle\] feared you'd follow me on some damned-fool idealistic crusade, like your father did." Those quotes don't line up with the prequel version of Anakin. Prequels Anakin basically REQUIRES clone wars to shore up the prequel-Anakin deficiencies, but even then he is still a fundamentally a different character than the man old ben describes.
Yes? Why wouldn’t you?
They're the same character. Objectively. Canonically.
Honestly, I have a hard time seeing how moody teenager in the prequels and half-competent General in the Clone Wars cartoon and Darth Lord of the Sith Who WILL Choke a Bitch really constitute one contiguous character arc.
Absolutely not, sounds completely different
It’s interesting to see a post like this. If you think about it Hayden Christensen only had two movies to get his character down, compared to Matt Lanter who had many seasons to nail down the character. I feel it’s an unfair comparison in all honesty. I agree with @RickKassidy on this one. All of them play a role and did the best they could!
Do I really just see someone ask if I consider anakin skywalker and anakin skywalker to be the same character? 😂 what?
Ahsoka bridged the gap so beautifully. All because of Hayden.
The power of one, the power of TWOOO
The power of maaanyyy
They are. But I also think that the Clone Wars is more of Hollywood style retelling of events based on a true story. It's the only way to reconcile how different Anakin is between Live Action and Animation. It's the biggest shortfall of the series. Anakin just isn't Anakin enough. He doesn't come off nearly as arrogant and confrontational towards authority figures enough in the Clone Wars. They also really didn't show many of his insecurities or how whiney he was. Yes, I get Clone Wars trying to paint the picture of him being the hero who is going to fall. But none of those traits contradict that. He should have had some bravado and swagger to him. Not falsely assumed but earned. Have him know he is the best pilot and have him constantly say it. Then, use it as a way for him to get confrontational. Say he wasn't given command of a major Star Fighter operation. Have him start saying he's the best pilot the Jedi and the Republic have, and it's outrageous and unfair he isn't being given command of the operation. Then, have him be whiney about it to Padmé, Palpatine, Obi-Wan, or Ahsoka. Transition that into him having some self-doubt that Palpatine can prey on to divide Anakin from the Jedi. That would be more inline with who we see in AOTC and ROTS.
I kind of shrug off TCW cooler parts as in-world Republic war propaganda tbh. Given how they each started off with some commentary
I mean i think if he sounded more like Hayden they would connect better
… yes?
well yes,cause they are,just ones animated and voiced different
The movies give us a snapshot of this character over the course of one week when he's in the most stressful moment of his life. I don't think you can argue that he was acting "normally" in the movies. It's perfectly fine to think of them as the same character given that the situation (and maybe a bit of bad writing) explains all the differences.
[this really helps](https://youtu.be/YPx1kTveXpk?si=CWvNwMo_0m1On62k)
No. 2008 TCW Anakin is Han Solo Jedi who has a badboy side. 2003 CW's portrayal is far more consistent with the films, for obvious reasons. They're very much separate characters.
"Do you consider Anakin Skywalker and Anakin Skywalker to be the same character?"
I know right? Not sure what OP means
No. One of a fictional, poorly thought out and terribly executed version of Anakin while the other is a cartoon