With Darth Vader, less is more, according to the screenwriter of Obi-Wan Kenobi

polygon.com:

Obi-Wan Kenobi on Disney Plus is about… Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan Kenobi. But there’s no talking about Obi-Wan — or at least not McGregor’s Obi-Wan, established with a trim beard, dry wit, and athletic grace in George Lucas’ Star Wars prequel films — without talking about Darth Vader. That’s the standpoint of Joby Harold, at least.

“If you’re going to tell the Obi-Wan story and show what that character is living with and struggling with vis-à-vis the past,” Obi-Wan’s screenwriter-slash-showrunner told Polygon via Zoom, “you’re doing a disservice to the Vader character if you don’t in some way acknowledge — even if it’s subtext — Vader’s side of the equation.”

Vader’s rage, his intimidating power, and his sheer physical presence have been among the most iconic images of the Star Wars franchise for nearly half a century. Bringing him into live-action television for the first time (played by Hayden Christensen, who spent precious little time in the iconic suit during the prequels) came with its own considerations, which Harold shared with Polygon.

First of all, there’s a limit to how emotive Star Wars’ ultimate boogeyman can be without flipping the script into parody, but you’ve still got find ways to put Anakin Skywalker’s pathos on the screen.

“You don’t want to see Vader sitting around looking at a scrapbook,” Harold said with humor. “But getting to see how [when he attacks Obi-Wan] in episode 3, there’s an anger, there’s a rage there. He’s more emotional, it’s made manifest in a very, very specific way that makes him just a little bit — he’s our Vader for our show, he’s not just the plug-and-play Vader. That was really, really important because otherwise it feels like a disservice to Obi-Wan’s story. You need both