Star Wars: Hayden Christensen Lays Some Blame On Fans For Prequels' Bad Reviews

28.02.2024 - 19:33 / gamerant.com / Anakin Skywalker / Luke Skywalker / Hayden Christensen / Ademilade ShodipeDosunmu

While Hayden Christensen's Star Wars prequel performance has elicited mixed feelings for several reasons, the actor has recently come forward with a new perspective on why it received such backlash, and fans aren’t buying it.

Where the original Star Warstrilogy had Luke Skywalker, the prequel trilogy would tell the story of his father, Anakin Skywalker, who would become the villain Darth Vader. The role of Anakin would be portrayed for most of the prequels by Christensen, a role that he more recently reprised in the Star Wars miniseries Obi-Wan Kenobiand Ahsoka on Disney Plus. His performance, and the prequel trilogy in general, were received with mixed reviews from critics and fans alike, albeit with the cushion of record-breaking box office performances for all three films.

In a recent interview with Empire, Christensen, who also spoke about his experience with the Star Wars sequel trilogy, gave more of an insight into his feelings surrounding the prequels and why he believed that the fans deserved some of the blame for the less than stellar reception the prequels got. When asked about the negative elements of playing the part, Christensen said, «Because Star Wars has had the cultural impact that it has, these characters almost become public domain, where people feel a sense of ownership over them. The character was criticized, my performance was criticized, and that part sucked. But I also felt like I had some context that perhaps helped a little bit.» He then explained what he believes happened in the wake of the Star Wars prequels.

When Episode I came out, there was a lot of excitement that they were making a new Star Wars, and it was going to be the backstory of Darth Vader. But I had friends that were upset that the character was starting off as this young kid. And I watched the film, and I loved it. It was everything I wanted and more. And I didn’t understand the disconnect between the movie that I saw, and the negativity in some of the reviews. In a way that sort of criticism, I think, comes from a certain failure of their own suspension of disbelief. If you’re gonna go sit in a theatre, and the opening scroll starts with, “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away”, that’s setting the stage that anything is possible. These people don’t need to sound and behave the way that we might expect. And if you’re going to sit down and think that you’re getting something that is of our current zeitgeist, then you’re setting yourself up for something else. You know what I mean?

While Christensen certainly makes a very valid point about the attitudes of some viewers, fans online were quick to point at a much more prominent reason behind the backlash, with many taking to X to highlight their dislike of the