Darth Vader is 'trying to kill' his Anakin Skywalker side in 'Obi-Wan Kenobi' (exclusive)

Watch: Hayden Christensen shares what we'll learn about Vader in Obi-Wan Kenobi

Hayden Christensen says Darth Vader is on a 'mission' in the new Star Wars series Obi-Wan Kenobi, which hits Disney+ on Friday, 27 May.

"We learn more about [Vader in Obi-Wan Kenobi]," Hayden Christensen tells Yahoo ahead of the show's launch.

"He's a very complex character, there's a lot there to dig into. He's on a mission. He's very driven in his pursuit of hunting down the remaining Jedi, and that mission is a very personal one for him."

Read more: Obi-Wan Kenobi stars overjoyed by Star Wars prequel love

We last saw Christensen as Vader in 2005's Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith. After the destruction of the Jedi Order, Anakin Skywalker was defeated in an epic lightsaber duel with his former master Obi-Wan. The defeated Sith Lord was resurrected as the helmeted Vader by Emperor Palpatine, while Obi-Wan and Yoda went into hiding.

Vader and Obi-Wan would next meet as old men in 1977's Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope — or so we thought — as Obi-Wan Kenobi will now join the dots between Episodes III and IV further informing our understanding of the pair of iconic characters.

Although little has been confirmed about the show's plot so far, Christensen says Anakin's journey to becoming Vader is still ongoing.

Read more: Who's back for Obi-Wan Kenobi?

"In a lot of ways [Vader's mission] is him reconciling his past, and trying to realise the identity that he really wants to move towards."

Vader's redemption at the hands of his son Luke in Return of the Jedi is a long way off at this point though. The identity he is moving towards in Obi-Wan Kenobi, is the brutal and ruthless Sith Lord that we last saw literally cutting a swathe through the Rebel Alliance in the roof-raising finale of 2016's Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

"He's trying to bury Anakin as deep down inside as possible," Christensen explains. "He's trying to kill that side of himself."

Read more: Ewan McGregor pays tribute to George Lucas

Another character who goes on a journey between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope is Obi-Wan himself, and showrunner Deborah Chow says that also plays a big part in the new character-driven series.

"One of the big things we were trying to answer the question of is how did [Obi-Wan] go from the warrior at the end of Revenge of the Sith, screaming on the banks of Mustafar, to the peace and calm of Alex Guinness in A New Hope?" Chow ponders.

"That's largely one of the questions we're trying to answer with the series."

Read more: How Darth Vader got his groove back in Rogue One

Picking up Kenobi's story 10 years after Revenge of the Sith, the new Disney+ show finds the Jedi knight in exile on Tatooine, keeping a watchful but distant eye on Vader's son Luke Skywalker, while Vader continues on his mission to wipe out the last of Jedi.

Obi-Wan Kenobi launches with two episodes on Disney+ on Friday, 27 May, with episodes released weekly thereafter.

Watch a trailer below.