At the time of release, the Star Wars prequels faced their fair share of criticism from fans and critics, alike, who felt the films were a somewhat lackluster follow-up to the original Star Wars trilogy. Time has proven kind to these three films, though, as one of its stars speaks on the newfound love for the prequels and the experience dealing with such warmth as part of their return to the franchise.
Anakin Skywalker himself, Hayden Christensen, spoke about how the Star Wars prequels have “held up well” in recent years and how it has translated to his experience returning to Star Wars in his interview with Empire Magazine. He told the outlet he has found the fans' love “overwhelming” at times during his return to the series, allowing him to look back more fondly on his time working on Star Wars in the early 2000s.
“It feels like vindication for the work that we did,” Christensen said. “We all wanted to do our very best work, and we cared a lot about it. And so to see the response from the fans now, it’s very cool.”
One such example he provided was meeting younger fans who, despite seeing Revenge of the Sith and the terrible acts Anakin commits, are excited to meet the actor at various conventions and Star Wars Celebration.
“Kids seem to forget about that scene when they meet me! There’s not any fear or intimidation,” Christensen added. “They’re just excited to meet Anakin.”
Christensen's performances as Anakin Skywalker in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith was one of the most criticized aspects of the films at the time of release. Viewers often pointed to the wooden dialogue and what they felt was an uneven performance, especially when the narrative shifted focus to the romance between Anakin and Padme Amidala.
However, fans have since softened to Christensen's time as Anakin and have welcomed him back into the franchise with open arms in recent years with appearances in the Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka series for Disney Plus.
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