Star Wars 9 will undoubtedly feature plenty of surprises for fans that have been waiting years for the final chapter in the new trilogy, but one twist may have been revealed courtesy of a deleted tweet.
The post in question came from the official Disneyland account. Fortunately, a keen-eyed fan was on hand to screenshot the message, which seems to be even more evidence that a former character will return in The Rise of Skywalker.
Disneyland Resort’s Twitter account posted a photo of actor Hayden Christensen – best known as Anakin Skywalker – during a visit to the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge theme park.
The photo itself doesn’t cause suspicion about a role in the forthcoming film, but the fact that it was deleted almost immediately suggests that something strange could be occurring.
Previous reports have also linked Christensen with an appearance.
The actor – who played Anakin in George Lucas’s Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith – was in attendance at this year’s Star Wars Celebration, and was set to appear on a panel at Salt Lake’s FanX before Disney pulled the plug.
Christensen was scheduled to appear alongside Ian McDiarmid, who will be returning as Emperor Palpatine in Episode IX.
Inverse also points out that when director Kevin Smith visited the set, he claimed he witnessed an actor delivering “a career best” performance. While this could mean Daisy Ridley or John Boyega, some are wondering if he was referring to Christensen, who received criticism for his past performances.
“[It’s] somebody I’ve seen in these movies before,” he said, adding: “I rolled a tear, it was so darn powerful.”
Backing all of this up is new tie-in book, The Secrets of the Jedi, which revealed the character returned as a “Force spirit” after his death.
Is Anakin about to make a big return to the franchise?
Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker is released 16 December.
