The three main Star Wars prequel trilogy villains all proved that Darth Vader is irreplaceable. After deconstructing Darth Vader’s character in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, George Lucas had the difficult mission of telling Anakin Skywalker’s origin story, while also creating new compelling antagonists. The Star Wars prequels could not count on the franchise’s most iconic character, as Anakin only truly became Darth Vader during the final minutes of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. Though that allowed Lucas to be more creative with the prequels’ villains, it posed a massive challenge for Episodes I, II, and III.
