Adam Driver Playing a Villain in the New 'Star Wars' Is an Awful Idea
He will never be his own kind of bad guy.
By Jillian Lucas
The Star Wars saga is incredibly near and dear to my heart. It has spawned childhood debates about why Luke is just a pansy with feathered hair (Han is the true hero here) and why Jar-Jar Binks is a step below that kid in middle school that always reminded your teacher you had homework from the night before.
With the announcement of a new Star Wars story to begin filming, with old friends Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Billy Dee Williams, Carrie Fischer, and Anthony Daniels as C3-PO signing on to bring the story to life, I was slightly (read: seriously) disappointed when I found out that Adam Driver from Girls is set to play a "Darth Vader-esque" villain. Don't get me wrong, Driver is a great actor, but not for Star Wars.
Darth Vader was the first and most feared Supreme Commander in all of the Galactic Empire. He commanded with an iron fist that would Force choke you for forgetting to bring home his underwear from the intergalactic dry-cleaners (you know that shit was starched and pressed by some poor droid). The fleet he lead had the utmost respect for him, sacrificing themselves not once, but twice, on the doomed Death Star.
A lot of Star Wars fans, myself included, had doubts as to how the prequels would handle the complicated and slightly less-than stellar continuity between the stories involving Vader's inception. The choice to turn Anakin into a whiny brat in Episode I and then a brooding, overly-dramatic teenager in II and III was one that is still much debated among fands. Hayden Christensen's portrayal of a young Vader was one that has sparked numerous debates about how the new Star Wars stories, set in the future after Episode VI, will fare in terms of casting.
After Palpatine was killed in a hail of Force lightening and awkwardly shifting glances, Vader proved to be more than a one-dimensional villain. This next villain in the saga will not only have to prove himself worthy of succeeding Vader in the storyline, but also have the burden of taking on arguably the single-best plot twist in sci-fi storytelling history. It isn't something anyone should be taking lightly, with the reputation of a now Disney-run J.J. Abrams-directed story under intense scrutiny. And I just feel that with such a heavy act to follow, Driver will be unable to perform (much like his character on Girls, heyo).
Driver, in our current pop culture, is known for this eccentricity and awkwardness. His ability to have emotional, uninhibited rage is often overshadowed by his sensitivity, something that, while Vader was able to channel that into the decimation of the Jedi in the original trilogy, may work against him. He will need to make a Darth Vader-like attempt to force (Force?) his way into the now crumbled remains of a once-powerful Empire. But he will also need to make his own character, one that won't end up compared to Lord Vader, one with its own form of tyranny and villainy. One that I just don't see him being able to take on.
My suggestions? Someone like Michael Fassbender, who was also rumored to have potentially been considered for the part (womp womp), or Willam Defoe, who was practically born with the face of villain. Someone with a certain je ne sais quoi behind his eyes that feels like he could snap at any moment and kill you for no other reason than that he was bored. Exactly what you need in a Vader successor.
Image via Empire
