James Earl Jones is officially retiring as the voice of Star Wars’ Darth Vader.
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.
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.“
