A familiar face from Disney's Star Wars sequel trilogy is making a dramatic return to the Star Wars franchise, but this time, he is stepping into the armor of cinema's most terrifying villain.
Mark Lewis Jones, who most fans will recognize as the stern First Order Captain Moden Canady from 2017's Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi, has officially been cast as another character from the galaxy far, far away. The Welsh actor is now moving from the sequel era back to the original trilogy to voice none other than Darth Vader.
This unexpected casting comes as Lucasfilm gears up for a historic milestone, with the franchise fast approaching the 50th anniversary of George Lucas's original space opera in 2027.
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Star Wars Project Brings a New Cast to the Original Film
To celebrate five decades of galactic storytelling, Disney and Lucasfilm have partnered with S4C and Creative Wales to create something entirely unprecedented: the first-ever official Welsh-language dub of the 1977 masterpiece, A New Hope.
Titled Star Wars: Gobaith Newydd, the project features an all-Welsh vocal cast taking over from the iconic original actors. While the lineup boasts impressive talent like Matthew Rhys as Han Solo and Rhys Ifans as Obi-Wan Kenobi, it's Jones's transition to Darth Vader that's one of the most interesting casting choices.
Filling the vocal shoes of the late James Earl Jones is no small task, but having an actor with existing franchise connections brings an exciting layer of continuity to the redub.
Audiences can experience this historic linguistic celebration when the movie premieres on S4C and its streaming platforms on Christmas Day.
How do you think Mark Lewis Jones will handle the voice of Darth Vader? Will you be tuning in this Christmas? Drop your thoughts in the comments!
