After "Obi-Wan Kenobi" Episode 5 premiered on June 15, user Junior_Key4244 started a thread on the "Obi-Wan" subreddit asking if any of its other members appreciated the fact that Hayden Christensen appeared in his Episode 5 flashback with minimal-to-no de-aging, in spite of it taking place concurrently with past "Star Wars" scenes in which the actor is at least a decade-and-a-half younger. The post was upvoted more than 500 times, suggesting that plenty of viewers do, in fact, feel this way.
One commenter replied, "I was just so happy to see him that I ignored his aging." They then praised whatever methods Christensen used to retain a youthful enough appearance that his present-day look didn't distract them from the flashback.
User hop0316, meanwhile, wrote, "I think it looked fine, deaging is great in theory but when not done perfectly is a lot more distracting than a few extra lines on someone's face."
Another user even floated the possibility that Christensen's appearance was a creative choice, intended to reflect how Vader might imagine his past self to look, rather than an accurate reflection of Anakin at the time that scene would have occurred.
Viewers discussing this scene in the Reddit thread, then, largely agreed that Christensen's perhaps incongruous appearance was preferable to the sorts of digital alterations that are becoming increasingly common in blockbuster films.
