Who Is Voicing Darth Vader in Obi-Wan Kenobi? Hayden Christensen or James Earl Jones?

Obi-Wan Kenobi is slowly becoming a vital addition to the lore of George Lucas’ Star Wars franchise. Now, while most of the story simply fills in the holes between Episodes III and IV, the story has also introduced us to some new characters and new concepts. Now, with the appearance of a fully-suited-up Darth Vader in Episode III of the miniseries, and with the knowledge of the fact that Hayden Christensen is behind the mask, people also wondered as to who voiced Darth Vader. In this article, we are going to tell you who did it.

The legendary James Earl Jones returned to voice Darth Vader in the Obi-Wan Kenobi miniseries, as was finally confirmed in Episode III of the show. The trademark voice of the franchise’s best-known villain returned once again, alongside Hayden Christensen, who was the actor behind the suit of Darth Vader, but did not provide voice work for the character.

The rest of this article is going to focus on the legendary James Earl Jones and his role in Obi-Wan Kenobi. You’re going to find out all the details about his role and his career, as well, since he is a truly important person within the Star Wars lore. Be careful, though, as we are going to reveal a lot of spoilers in the upcoming paragraphs.

Who is voicing Darth Vader in Obi-Wan Kenobi?

You’ve probably heard a long time ago that Hayden Christensen, the actor who portrayed Anakin Skywalker in Episodes II and III of the movie series, would be returning to play Darth Vader in the Obi-Wan Kenobi miniseries. And while this return was absolutely amazing news, we still had some questions about the role. Namely, you all know how the voice of Darth Vader is almost as equally relevant as the persona itself. Knowing that Christensen would be coming back, did that mean that he would also be providing the voice work?

Now, that would’ve meant that Christensen would be replacing the legendary James Earl Jones, who has been providing the voice for Darth Vader since the character’s debut. But, would that be it? We did not have official information about this until Episode III of the Obi-Wan Kenobi miniseries, when it was confirmed that the legendary James Earl Jones would be returning to provide the voice of Darth Vader once again.

This means that Disney kept the continuity of Vader’s voice and also brought another Star Wars icon back into its world of television. This meant, of course, that Hayden Christensen would be portraying the body of Darth Vader, whereas Jones would be providing the voice once again.

Who is James Earl Jones?

James Earl Jones is an American actor, born January 17, 1931 in Arkabutla, Mississippi. Son of actor Robert Earl Jones (1910-2006), his career has been spanning for more than sixty years. He is particularly known for his theatrical performances, the most emblematic being his major roles in The Great White Hope (1967) and Fences (1985).

Beginning at the cinema in Doctor Strangelove (1964) by Stanley Kubrick, he notably played in The Great White Hope (1970), Claudine (1974), Conan the Barbarian (1982), Coming to America (1988), Field of Dreams (1989) or in the adaptations of the novels of Tom Clancy, The Hunt for Red October (1990), Patriot Games (1992), and Clear and Present Danger (1994).

His deep bass voice makes him a frequent narrator; he is particularly known for his vocal performances, the most famous of which is his interpretation of the Sith lord Darth Vader in the Star Wars saga, which he first performed in the original trilogy (1977-1983), then occasionally in the films Revenge of the Sith (2005), Rogue One (2016), The Rise of Skywalker (2019), as well as in the Rebels series (2014-2018). He also lent his voice to Mufasa in The Lion King (1994) and he was the voice-over for CNN during the 80s and 90s pronouncing the famous slogan “This is CNN”.

Named in several ceremonies, he is notably the winner of two Primetime Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards, a Grammy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award. In 2012, he received an honorary Oscar for his entire career. His credits include:

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1964	Dr. Strangelove	Lt. Lothar Zogg
1967	The Comedians	Dr. Georges Magiot
1967	The Comedians in Africa	Himself	Short film
1970	The End of the Road	Doctor D
1970	The Great White Hope	Jack Jefferson
1970	King: A Filmed Record… Montgomery to Memphis	Himself	Documentary
1972	Malcolm X	Narrator	Voice role Documentary
1972	The Man	Douglass Dilman
1974	Claudine	Rupert “Roop” B. Marshall
1976	The River Niger	Johnny Williams
1976	The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings	Leon Carter
1976	Swashbuckler	Nick Debrett
1976	Deadly Hero	Rabbit
1977	The Greatest	Malcolm X
1977	Star Wars	Darth Vader	Voice role Originally uncredited (credited in reissues)
1977	Exorcist II: The Heretic	Older Kokumo
1977	The Last Remake of Beau Geste	Sheikh
1977	A Piece of the Action	Joshua Burke
1979	The Bushido Blade	Harpooner
1980	The Empire Strikes Back	Darth Vader	Voice role Originally uncredited (credited in reissues)
1982	The Flight of Dragons	Ommadon	Voice role
1982	Conan the Barbarian	Thulsa Doom
1982	Blood Tide	Frye	aka Demon Island and The Red Tide
1983	Return of the Jedi	Darth Vader	Voice role
1985	City Limits	Albert
1986	Soul Man	Professor Banks
1986	Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold	Umslopogaas
1987	Gardens of Stone	Sgt. Maj. “Goody” Nelson
1987	My Little Girl	Ike Bailey
1987	Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night	Emperor of the Night	Voice role
1987	Matewan	Few Clothes
1988	Coming to America	King Jaffe Joffer
1989	Three Fugitives	Detective Movan Dugan
1989	Field of Dreams	Terence Mann
1989	Best of the Best	Frank Couzo
1990	Convicts	Ben Johnson
1990	The Hunt for Red October	Admiral James Greer
1990	The Ambulance	Lt. Spencer
1990	Grim Prairie Tales	Morrison
1991	Scorchers	Bear
1991	True Identity	Himself
1992	Patriot Games	Admiral James Greer
1992	Freddie as F.R.O.7	Narrator	American dub
1992	Sneakers	NSA Agent Bernard Abbott
1993	Dreamrider	William Perry
1993	Sommersby	Judge Barry Conrad Isaacs
1993	The Sandlot	Mr. Mertle
1993	Excessive Force	Jake
1993	The Meteor Man	Earnest Moses
1994	Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult	Himself	Cameo
1994	Clean Slate	Dolby
1994	The Lion King	Mufasa	Voice role
1994	Clear and Present Danger	Admiral James Greer
1995	Jefferson in Paris	Madison Hemings
1995	Cry, the Beloved Country	Rev. Stephen Kumalo
1995	Judge Dredd	Narrator	Uncredited voice role
1996	A Family Thing	Ray Murdock
1996	Good Luck	James Bing
1997	Casper: A Spirited Beginning	Kibosh	Voice role Direct-to-video
1997	Gang Related	Arthur Baylor
1998	Primary Colors	CNN Voiceover	Voice role
1998	The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride	Mufasa	Voice role Direct-to-video
1999	Our Friend, Martin	Martin Luther King, Sr.	Voice role Direct-to-video
1999	On the Q.T.	Leo
1999	Undercover Angel	The Judge
1999	The Annihilation of Fish	Fish
1999	Fantasia 2000	Himself	Introduced Carnival of the Animals segment
2001	Finder’s Fee	Avery Phillips
2005	Robots	Voice Box at Hardware Store	Voice cameo
2005	The Sandlot 2	Mr. Morris Mertle	Direct-to-DVD
2005	Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith	Darth Vader	Voice role (uncredited)
2006	The Benchwarmers	Voice cameo
2006	Click	Narrator of Michael’s Past	Uncredited cameo
2006	Scary Movie 4	Narrator	Uncredited cameo
2008	Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins	Roscoe Jenkins, Sr.
2009	Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey	The Professor / The Admiral	Voice role
2009	Jack and the Beanstalk	The Giant	Voice role
2011	Star Tours – The Adventures Continue	Darth Vader	Short film Voice role
2013	Gimme Shelter	Frank McCarthy
2014	The Angriest Man in Brooklyn	Ruben
2014	Driving Miss Daisy	Hoke Colburn	Theatrical release of Australian stage production
2016	Rogue One	Darth Vader	Voice role
2018	Warning Shot	Pendleton
2019	The Lion King	Mufasa	Voice role
2019	Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker	Darth Vader	Voice cameo
2021	Coming 2 America	King Jaffe Joffer

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1963	East Side/West Side	Joe Goodwin	Episode: “Who Do You Kill?”
1966	Dr. Kildare	Dr. Lou Rush	4 episodes
1969	N.Y.P.D.	Candy Lateen	2 episodes
1969	Sesame Street	Himself	2 episodes
1974	NBC Children’s Theater	Himself	Episode: “Super Plastic Elastic Goggles”
1977	Roots	Alex Haley	Episode: “Part XII”
1977	Jesus of Nazareth	Balthazar	Episode: “Part 1”
1978	Sesame Street	Movie Star	Episode: 1148
1979	Roots: The Next Generations	Alex Haley	Episode: “1.7”
1979–1980	Paris	Woodrow Paris	13 episodes
1985	Me and Mom	Lou Garfield	6 episodes
1986	Faerie Tale Theatre	Genie of the Lamp Genie of the Ring	Episode: “Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp”
1987	Highway to Heaven	Gabe Wilson	1 episode: “A Song of Songs”
1987, 1990–1992	Square One TV	Announcer Chief Thad Greene	4 episodes
1987–1991	Mathnet	Chief Thad Green	5 episodes
1988–1989	L.A. Law	Lee Atkins	2 episodes
1989	Saturday Night with Connie Chung	Vernon Johns	Episode: “God’s Bad Boy”
1989–1992	Long Ago and Far Away	Himself (host)	35 episodes
1990, 1994, 1998	The Simpsons	Narrator / Moving Man Serak the Preparer / Maggie Simpson	Voice roles 3 episodes
1990–1991	Gabriel’s Fire	Gabriel Bird	22 episodes
1991–1992	Pros and Cons	Gabriel Bird	12 episodes
1992	Shelley Duvall’s Bedtime Stories	Narrator	Segment “Millions of Cats”
1992	Garfield and Friends	Diablo	Voice role Episode: “Ghost of a Chance”
1993	ABC Weekend Special	N/A	Episode: “The Parsley Garden”
1993	Law & Order	Horace McCoy	Episode: “Profile”
1993	American Playhouse	Old Man Taylor	Episode: “Hallelujah”
1994	Picket Fences	Bryant Thomas	Episode: “System Down”
1994	Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman	Franklin Stern	Episode: “The House of Luthor”
1995	Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child	King Dakkar	Voice role Episode: “The Valiant Little Tailor”
1995	Signs and Wonders	Diamond	4 episodes
1995	Under One Roof	Neb Langston	6 episodes
1996	3rd Rock from the Sun	Narrator	Uncredited voice role 19 episodes
1997	Mad About You	Himself	Episode: “Chicken Man”
1997	Touched by an Angel	Angel of Angels	Episode: “Clipped Wings”
1997	Frasier	Norman Royster	Episode: “Roz’s Krantz & Gouldenstein Are Dead”
1997	Stargate SG-1	Unas	Episode: “Thor’s Hammer”
1997	Homicide: Life on the Street	Felix Wilson	3 episodes
1998	Merlin	Mountain King	Voice role 3 episodes
1998	Recess	Santa Claus	Voice role Episode: “Yes, Mikey, Santa Does Shave”
2003	Will & Grace	Himself	Episode: “Me and Mr. Jones”
2003–2004	Everwood	Will Cleveland	3 episodes
2004	According to Jim	Royal Flush XP Toilet	Voice role Episode: “The Toilet”
2004	Sesame Street	Himself	Episode: 4077
2008	Two and a Half Men	Himself	Episode: “The Devil’s Lube”
2009	House	Dibala	Episode: “The Tyrant”
2014	The Big Bang Theory	Himself	Episode: “The Convention Conundrum”
2014–2016	Star Wars Rebels	Darth Vader	Voice role 5 episodes
2015	Agent X	Chief Justice Caleb Thorne	2 episodes
2022	Obi-Wan Kenobi	Darth Vader (voice)	Episode: “Part III”