8 Directors Who Have The Worst Takes About Their Own Movie Endings

8. George Lucas' Odd Reason For Bringing Back Hayden Christensen - Return Of The Jedi

While many have been quick to call out George Lucas for his decision to repeatedly tinker with his Original Trilogy in the years since the trio of beloved features initially burst onto the scene, it must be noted that not every alteration was as jarring as the sight of pointless CGI being stuffed into every frame possible.

Take the decision to lace Ian McDiarmid's version of Emperor Palpatine into The Empire Strikes Back, for example, papering over the sight of Marjorie Eaton initially playing the Dark Lord of the Sith with superimposed chimpanzee eyes and effectively linking the Prequels with the OG trilogy of flicks.

The same cannot be said for the decision to bring Hayden Christensen back into the fold in the closing stages of Return of the Jedi, however, with many quick to question why Lucas opted to revert back to the younger version Anakin Skywalker after the fallen Jedi ultimately became a Force Ghost in the wake of dying much later on in his life.

Lucas' explanation for the jarring shift? Well, the director felt that after Anakin was redeemed by saving his son's life, his "inner person would go back to where we left it off", suggesting that the Jedi metaphorically died after becoming Vader.

In reality, though, Sebastian Shaw's version of Skywalker/Vader was likely cut out as way of jarringly connecting the two trilogies more than anything else.