An icon is putting his time in a franchise to bed as James Earl Jones has officially retired as Star Wars' Darth Vader. The Oscar winner first debuted as the iconic Star Wars villain in the original 1977 film, giving voice to the Sith Lord while David Prowse physically portrayed the character. Jones would provide most follow-up voice performances for Darth Vader on both the big and small screen in the franchise.
With the future of the Star Wars franchise primarily focused on the small screen, thanks to the success of The Mandalorian and Obi-Wan Kenobi, with other projects in the works including Rosario Dawson's Ahsoka, Jude Law's Skeleton Crew, Leslye Headland's The Acolyte and Justin Simien's Lando. Given the majority of these shows are set around the timeline of the original Star Wars trilogy, fans of the franchise have been eager to see a variety of major names and characters return to the fold. While Obi-Wan Kenobi and The Mandalorian have seen the likes of Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christensen and Mark Hamill all reprise their iconic roles, it appears one major star is bidding farewell to their character.
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Vanity Fair has brought word that James Earl Jones has signed over his voice rights as Star Wars' Darth Vader, officially retiring from the role. The rights to the role now sit with Lucasfilm and Ukrainian A.I. audio company Respeecher, who previously worked on The Book of Boba Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Despite his retirement from the role, both studios still reportedly discuss their plans for Vader with Jones and "heed his advice on how to stay on the right course."
Darth Vader Will Return In Star Wars Without James Earl Jones
Many audiences have already been wondering the extent of Jones' future in the Star Wars franchise as Darth Vader after Obi-Wan Kenobi, in which he was credited for providing his voice for the character. Given his age, the lack of audible differences in the Disney+ show from his original work and Respeecher being credited for undisclosed work, some have speculated that Jones didn't actually provide his voice for the series, but rather the A.I. studio put together his dialogue in the episodes. Others have speculated that Hayden Christensen ultimately provided the voice of Darth Vader through a modulator that allowed him to sound like Jones' iconic voice.
Though the new deal doesn't give any specific answers for these questions, it should come as bittersweet news for franchise fans to learn of James Earl Jones officially retiring as Star Wars' Darth Vader. However, with the note that the Oscar winner is still kept in the know for plans for the character, it does appear that the Sith Lord's time is nowhere near at an end in the franchise, an idea already speculated with Hayden Christensen's reported return in Ahsoka. In the meantime, audiences can celebrate Jones' time in the role with the Star Wars franchise available to stream on Disney+.