Star Wars: James Earl Jones steps back from Darth Vader role

James Earl Jones is the voice behind legendary Star Wars' villain Darth Vader, but it seems the 91-year-old has finally hung up his helmet.

In an interview with Vanity Fair, Star Wars sound supervising editor Matthew Wood said Jones "was looking into winding down this... character".

Jones's voice was remastered from the original Star Wars films for recent Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Some of Jones's archival voice recordings were also used.

For future Star Wars projects, Jones as reportedly granted permission for Disney and Lucasfilm to use artificial intelligence and archival recordings to recreate his voice.

The actor is credited for his advice on the performance of Darth Vadar on Obi-Wan Kenobi, with Wood describing him as "a benevolent godfather."

Jones's family told Wood how pleased they were with the finished product by Ukrainian-based voice cloning company Respeecher.

"I find your lack of faith disturbing."

"When I left you, I was but the learner. Now, I am the master."

"You don't know the power of the dark side! I must obey my master."

"The force is strong with this one."

Respeecher previously worked with Lucasfilm to create the voice of a young Luke Skywalker for another Disney+ series, The Book of Boba Fett.

Wood told Vanity Fair that working during the Russian invasion had been challenging for the team in Kyiv but their attitude was: "Let's work, let's work in the face of this adversity, let's persevere."

Jones voiced Darth Vader in the original Star Wars film which came out in 1977 and follow-ups The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.

He has since reprised the role in films such as the first instalment of the Star Wars anthology series, Rogue One, and the third instalment of the sequel trilogy, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

A different actor has always donned the costume and provided the movement for the famous villain, including the late David Prowse, with Jones lending his deep and now instantly recognisable voice.