This has metastasised into the “stan” culture that afflicts pop music – as anyone who has ever given a negative review to a Taylor Swift or Harry Styles record will know. They also helped usher in an era of vitriolic fandom with which we are still living today. Those movies introduced a new generation to Jedi Knights and Sith Lords. Alas, the legacy of the 1999-2005 prequel trilogy, in which Christensen and McGregor starred, is altogether more problematic. The original Star Wars changed cinema and helped invent the summer blockbuster. Natalie Portman and Hayden Christensen in Star Wars Episode II Attack of the Clones (Photo: Lucasfilm LTD) And Christensen, Lloyd and Best had the mental scars to prove it. “Hate leads to suffering,” Jedi Master Yoda had once told Luke Skywalker. In terms of public bullying, Christensen was, if anything, a long way behind 10-year-old Jake Lloyd, who played a younger version of Anakin in 1999’s The Phantom Menace, and Ahmed Best, who portrayed cartoonish amphibian Jar Jar Binks and was pushed to the brink of suicide by fan toxicity. He was not alone in feeling the wrath of fans. He became one of the most detested figures in Star Wars fandom in 2002 when he was cast as Anakin Skywalker, the moody Jedi Knight destined to sulk his way to the Dark Side of the Force. The object of their derision was Christensen, a Canadian one-time soap star with boy-band good looks and a low-key acting style. Across the internet, millions of nerds would have suddenly cried out in terror. Just a few years ago, the idea of McGregor and Christensen returning to Star Wars would have set sirens blaring. The real surprise is how much the world has been looking forward to Obi-Wan Kenobi. “I think the general anticipation is there.” “It’s really exciting, man,” enthused Christensen this week. Meanwhile on desert planet Tatooine, Obi-Wan keeps a discreet eye on Anakin’s secret love child, Luke Skywalker. Having suffered terrible burns falling into a molten river, Anakin has been reborn as Darth Vader, complete with iconic mask and menacing breathing. Obi-Wan Kenobi, which is out now, takes up the story 10 years after Revenge of the Sith. As tense onscreen reunions go, it could rival the Bros documentary. Seventeen years after Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan Kenobi and Hayden Christensen’s Anakin Skywalker had a spectacular falling-out in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith – harsh words were exchanged, lava pits and lightsabers abounded – the pair are about to cross day-glo swords once again in a new Disney+ series. Science-fiction’s most controversial power couple are getting back together.
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