Hayden Christensen Wants Natalie Portman Back in STAR WARS and Knows How to Do It

Hayden Christensen has an idea that could reunite Anakin Skywalker with Padmé Amidala.

After returning to the Star Wars franchise in Disney+ projects and most recently appearing in Star Wars: Ahsoka, Christensen says he’d love another chance to work with Natalie Portman.

He even has a pitch. If Padmé is ever going to return, the Clone Wars era might be the best place to make it happen.

While attending D23, Christensen discussed his renewed time with Star Wars and the possibility of revisiting Anakin and Padmé together.

Portman played Padmé throughout the prequel trilogy, becoming Anakin’s wife and the mother of Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa.

In an interview with USA Today, Christensen explained exactly where he thinks there’s room for another story:

“I’d love to get to work with her again and play these characters together. I think there’s still an opportunity to do that.

“I love the whole Clone Wars timeline in Star Wars, and it’s been a lot of fun to get to explore that a little bit in this series. So, I would love to get to do that with her at some point.”

The Clone Wars cover a huge chunk of Anakin and Padmé’s lives that the live-action movies barely had time to explore.

Animation filled in many of those gaps, but seeing Christensen and Portman return for a live-action story set during that period could be pretty cool and it would make sense.

The bigger question is whether Star Wars actually needs it.

Disney-era Star Wars has leaned heavily on familiar characters, particularly on Disney+.

Ahsoka reconnects audiences with characters and storylines from The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels, while Obi-Wan Kenobi brought Christensen back as Anakin and Darth Vader. In that case, returning to the past was built into the premise.

The Mandalorian is where the reliance on familiar faces became more noticeable. Bringing back Boba Fett and eventually Luke Skywalker delivered some huge fan moments, but it also made it feel like Star Wars wasn’t completely comfortable leaving its past behind.

That’s why new standalone stories without legacy characters are so important.

Star Wars needs room to grow beyond what is familiar and give us things that don’t depend on audiences recognizing someone from 20 or 40 years ago.

Fan service can be fun, but it works best when it serves the story rather than becoming the reason for the story.

That creates a problem with bringing Padmé into Ahsoka. The series takes place after Return of the Jedi, long after Padmé’s death, while Anakin’s appearances have involved the mysterious World Between Worlds and his existence after death.

Dropping Padmé into that story simply to put Christensen and Portman together again would feel forced. But, a separate project could make considerably more sense.

Lucasfilm could develop another prequel-era series, similar in concept to Obi-Wan Kenobi, set during a period when Anakin and Padmé were both alive.

Christensen’s Clone Wars suggestion gives them plenty of timeline to play with. Another possibility would be an Anakin-focused series that uses flashbacks to bring Portman back as Padmé.

Either option would at least give her return a narrative reason to exist rather than turning it into another nostalgia cameo.

If Lucasfilm does decide to bring her back, Christensen has landed on the most interesting option.

Give Anakin and Padmé a story set during the Clone Wars, make their relationship important to the plot, and give the reunion an actual reason to exist.

If you’re going back to the past again, at least make the trip worthwhile.