The age difference between Obi-Wan and Anakin


In the original Star Wars, Darth Vader calls Obi-Wan an old man. Then Anakin is played by the older Sebastian Shaw in ROTJ. Since the 2004 Special Edition DVDs, Shaw has been digitally taken out and replaced by the younger Hayden Christensen and as such you may argue that this change was done for the better. Although there is still the fact that when you get to the prequels, there isn't that much of an age difference between Obi-Wan and Anakin (Ewan McGregor is only ten years older than Christensen in real life). I suppose that using Shaw in '83 was problematic in the first place for the old man comment in ANH, so I'm not sure which movie really is the most to blame.

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The age difference has always been there. Obi-Wan is 16 years older than Anakin.

In Ep. I , Anakin is 9 and Obi-Wan is 25 (Qui-Gon was supposed to be 60 if you can believe it).

In Ep. III, Anakin is 22 and Obi-Wan is 38.

In Ep. IV, Vader is 41 and Obi-Wan is 57 (Alec Guiness was 63).

In Ep. VI, Vader is 45 but played by 78-year-old Sebastian Shaw.

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The point is that one can find it from a retconning perspective sort of silly how Vader calls Obi-Wan old man in Star Wars (1978) when he isn't that much younger than Obi-Wan himself by 16 years. But yeah, I guess one must also take appearance into consideration and Obi-Wan (Alec Guinness) did look to be about the age of a biblical patriarch.

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Obi Wan must have lived a rough life on Tatooine to go from young-looking Ewan McGregor, who was 32, but looked about 25, at the time Revenge of the Sith was shot, to ancient-looking Alec Guiness, who was 63 but looked about 75. He aged at least 50 years in the 18 odd years he was there!

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