SPECULATION What if Anakin's story was shifted forward, and the suited Darth Vader was the villain in episode 3?

I keep reading these arguments on why having Anakin as a child was the wrong thing to do, but I have never come across an argument that made any sense. No one has really given a good reason why it would have been better if Anakin had been older in "The Phantom Menace". Not really. Is it because they wanted Anakin to be the same age as Luke was in "A New Hope"? Is that it?

 

It's because him being a child wastes time. It requires a large timeskip. Also, people are different at age 9 and 19, which means that Anakin is a different character to a large degree, meaning we have to be reintroduced to him. Even more so as very little of young Anakin's compassion and innate goodness can be seen in adult Anakin, which is a problem as he is still supposed to be on the Light Side in Attack of the Clones.
Also, this further cuts into time that could have been used to build up the friendship between Anakin and Obi-Wan (further hampered by Qui-Gon's presence) as most treat children (especially young children like Anakin) differently than they would an adult or even a teenager.
And even more importantly, it really hurts the Anakin/Padmé romance. With an older Anakin, we could have had some sparks flying in Episode I and it would have made the romance in Episode II a little smoother (though that still needs a hell of a lot of rewriting).
Long story short: a child Anakin just cut into everything that was important for the story.

Also, it would have spared us from having a child actor. A good child actor is rare, so you should avoid having child characters if possible and this was a case where it was possible. And it would also help with why the hell Anakin wasn't left at the Jedi Temple instead of the clearly more sensible option of bring a 9-year-old to a WAR ZONE!

 

A skin Skywalker wasn't left at the Jedi temple because his training started IMMEDIATELY after Qui-Gon Jinn & Obi-Wan Kenobo met with Yoda about training him...if you remember A skin is told specifically to watch and follow his new master and is told to find safety on Naboo when they're fighting Darth Maul/The Seperatists.

 

First off, I've never seen auto-correct changing "Anakin" to "A skin", which is just amusing. Has nothing to do with your statement, just amusing.
Secondly, Anakin's training didn't start yet. Don't forget, Obi-Wan was still Qui-Gon's Padawan and was told that it was, and I quote, "Impossible to take a second." Also, still, he's a nine-year-old with no experience in situations like these and no combat ability what so ever. I don't care if he was told to find safety, he shouldn't have been there in the first place! His training could have waited until after the crisis on Naboo was finished and Anakin could be given the basics before going out into the field.
And there were no Separatists in The Phantom Menace. Just the Trade Federation (the Separatist movement didn't start until later).

 

I think it would have been a great idea to see how many jedi he encounters in his new suit.

 

It would be cool considering his new suit gives him so much more raw strength and power.

 

The think the suit is more about being a intimidating presence he has raw strength & power with the darkside.

 

Well I man in his physical power as in he can lift more with his bands and legs .

 

Okay, I have a simple question on this: how many of you want a suited Vader because of story reasons (as in it furthers the story and would only strength it) or because you think it would be cool to see Vader fight a ton of Jedi?

 

I do.

 

I would've had Anakin start the Prequels older- say, late teens/early 20s. And I actually would've left it ambiguous as to whether or not Anakin survived. That was, if you're watching the movies in chronological order, there can still be a sense of mystery over whether or not Anakin is Vader, and preserve the drama of the big reveal- which, honestly, doesn't carry any wait from a dramatic standpoint.

 

I'm sorry, but this is not a good argument to me. All this does is leave me with the feeling that you don't like the idea of a major child character in this story. You don't even want a child actor in the movie. Or that you can't deal with a ten year time jump. I frankly don't see how making Anakin older is supposed to "fix" the story. To me, this doesn't sound like "fixing" the story. It sounds like adjusting the story to how you "want it" . . . and some other fans.

You mean . . . like Luke?

Why is it so important to preserve the drama of the big reveal . . . after the Original Trilogy had already been released years ago? I think it would have been too late for that.

 

1) I came to this conclusion independently and years after the movies came out. It was me working out the flaws in the story.
2) Do you not see what I put? The amount of relationship stuff that was delayed to Attack of the Clones a nine-year-old Anakin caused further damage to the story. And due to the extreme difference between Anakin's personality in The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones without any real insight makes it all the more baffling. Long story short, we don't need to see Anakin as a child and all it did was harm the films.

 

I think that it was Kay for a 9 year old Anakin Skywalker but they should have kept AOTC like 5 years after TPM & showing the seeds of the clone wars begin to spread and having ROTS take place another decade from episode 2 showing the final couple years of the clone wars and having him become Vader (in the suit) halfway through and end it with showing Lukr and Leia as kids in a time jump or something like that .

 

I don't agree with you. I still don't see how this would "fix" the story. It still does not seem like "fixing" the story, only telling the story how you and some others would like it to be.

 

1) Again, kid Anakin and adult Anakin feel like different characters. It makes Phantom Menace feel like a waste of time since it doesn't really contribute much.
2) Okay, then tell me how does kid Anakin add anything to the plot?

 

I feel that nine year-old Anakin might be the beginning of the story. I believe that Lucas was telling us how this charming and innocent child grew up to be a complex individual, who had the potential to give in to evil. I believe that Anakin was all of us. We're all individuals who enter this world as innocents and grow up with the potential to do both good and evil. All of are capable of starting out as innocents who eventually develop the ability or willingness to become a monster or engage in monstrous behavior for our own personal reasons. Other characters - especially the so-called "heroes" - have done this. Didn't the Republic start out in this same manner? Wasn't it founded for ideal reasons and developed over the years into this complex and corrupt government with flaws that made it ripe for a downfall?

I'm not stating this as fact. I honestly don't really know why he did it. But I suspect this may have been the story that Lucas wanted to tell. Perhaps this was not the story that you wanted, but I had no problems with it. If you do not agree with what I had just written, okay. Just say that you don't find my argument convincing. But what I had just written was an opinion.

If you didn't like Lucas' story, fine. But I get this impression that all you're doing is merely expressing your views. Your reasons why a nine year-old Anakin didn't work, don't work for me. What you have written so far doesn't convince me why it was wrong to start out the PT with a nine year-old Anakin.