The first Anakin is a mirror of Luke. A Young Jedi prodigy and his journey resembles the journey of his son. He is young and brash. You can maybe even compare him to Jacen Solo.
The second Anakin is a responsible and respected Jedi Knight perhaps a bit like TCW Anakin.
The third Anakin is more in line with Sebastian Shaw.
So which Anakin would have been ideal? Which actor would suit each Anakin? (Don’t use Hayden or Lanter)
He should match the descriptions of Obi-Wan in the original trilogy, it still irritates me that whole he was a good friend and the best starpilot, and a great warrior when we get none of that in the prequel. We get none of his zeal for going on damn fool idealistic crusades with Kenobi, or his desire to use power to bring about order in a chaotic universe. We never get to see a slow seduction to evil, a betrayal of the Jedi, or even him hunting down and destroying the Jedi Knights.
I have this entire alternate trilogy I imagined as a kid that doesn’t exist.
He might even have been boastful and arrogant like Jorus from the expanded universe before he became Vader, headstrong. I get the feeling he would have always set his mind on something and believed he was right even if he went against the grain like Qui-Gon. Like joining the wars when Owen was against it. But what were the Clone Wars about, certainly not as shown in Attack of the Clones. Was it supposed to be a war against cloners and Mandos.
He obviously started out as Ben’s apprentice and wasn’t a respected General to later in the wars. When did he become the face of the war and the person who the republic counted on to win, their ace. Somewhere along the way he would have befriended maybe even helped Palpatine, I wouldn’t even be against the idea of him saving him from a kidnapping plot just different from Revenge of the Sith. When did Palpatine become like a spiritual and political adviser to him, when did he start to distrust Kenobi and the Jedi.
I like the concept of him from Star Wars 1977. He was a peer of Obi-wans (quite close in age) who was murdered by Obi-wans young pupil Darth Vader. A great starfighter and cunning warrior; Obi-wan obviously finds nothing wrong with praising martial prowess. This is because The Jedi were basically special forces rather than warrior monks. They probably banged a lot of chicks.
“It is only through interaction, through decision and choice, through confrontation, physical or mental, that the Force can grow within you.”
-Kreia, Jedi Master and Sith Lord
I like the concept of him from Star Wars 1977. He was a peer of Obi-wans (quite close in age) who was murdered by Obi-wans young pupil Darth Vader. A great starfighter and cunning warrior; Obi-wan obviously finds nothing wrong with praising martial prowess. This is because The Jedi were basically special forces rather than warrior monks. They probably banged a lot of chicks.
Certainly this guy did:
Anakin before joining the Jedi: essentially Luke in SW.
Anakin after joining the Jedi: Luke from SW & TESB with Han’s cockiness and charisma.
Anakin after joining the Sith, but before going full dark side: more reserved like Vader in TESB & ROTJ, minus the sheer ruthlessness.
Gods for some, miniature libertarian socialist flags for others.
Anakin before joining the Jedi: essentially Luke in SW.
Anakin after joining the Jedi: Luke from SW & TESB with Han’s cockiness and charisma.
Anakin after joining the Sith, but before going full dark side: more reserved like Vader in TESB & ROTJ, minus the sheer ruthlessness.
Something like this.
The concept of existing prequel Anakin isn’t that bad, the problem is in the execution. If he were just self-confident and gung ho and wanted to do his own thing, that would be cool. The problem is that’s buried underneath the bizarre decision to make him a leering weirdo mass murderer before we even get the chance to get attached to him.
When I think of Anakin, I try to picture Sebastian Shaw. He should be EXACTLY how Kenobi described in the ROTJ movie and novelization. Period.