Star Wars 9: Massive hint Anakin IS in The Rise Of Skywalker as Force Ghost?

The character, played by Hayden Christensen in the prequels, forms the backbone of the Star Wars franchise.

As Darth Vader, he became an iconic antagonist in the original movies – before becoming the central focus of George Lucas’ prequel trilogy.

Fans have been desperate for this final movie in the story to feature a nod to him in some capacity – so will it?

There may have been a big clue hiding in the trailer.

The teaser for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker featured a voiceover from Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker.

He says: “We’ve passed on all we know. A thousand generations live in you now.

“But this is your fight.”

It’s that use of the word “we” that has raised some eyebrows – when Luke speaks to Rey (Daisy Ridley), is he accompanied by other Force Ghosts?

STAR WARS: MARK HAMILL REVEALS VITAL LUKE SKYWALKER REALISATION

And if so, does it not make perfect, fitting sense for one of them to be Anakin – even if it might look bizarre having the older Hamill and the younger Christensen side-by-side as son and father?

Posting on Reddit, user bjthebard said: “So I feel like this was sitting right in front of me the whole time but I haven’t seen this come up yet.

“In the trailer all of Luke’s pronouns are plural.

“‘We’ve passed on all we know,’ ‘We will always be with you.’

“It seems to really almost give away that there’s at least one other person standing next to him.

“With the way the sequels have been going, I wouldn’t be surprised if they stick to OT material and just bring out Yoda, but the emphasis on generations in the trailer makes me think they may include Obi-Wan in this ghostly council.”

Another user chimed in: “Well Hayden might be in it?”

So will we be seeing more Force Ghosts such as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker? We’ll have to wait and see.

Star Wars: Episode 9 rounds off the Skywalker saga but producer Kathleen Kennedy has been keen to emphasise that it doesn’t mark the end of Star Wars altogether.

“We are looking at the next saga,” she said, per The Hollywood Reporter.

“We are not just looking at another trilogy, we’re really looking at the next 10 years or more.

“This [movie] is the culmination of the Skywalker Saga – it’s by no means the culmination of Star Wars.”

Star Wars: Episode 9 is out on December 19 in the UK.