James Earl Jones has signed over the rights to his iconic Darth Vader voice in Star Wars to new AI technology, sparking speculation that he has retired from the role.
The actor, 91, who has voiced the villain since the original Star Wars film in 1977, most recently starring as the character for the new Obi-Wan Kenobi series on Disney+.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Matthew Wood - from Star Wars creators Lucasfilm - detailed James' wishes to 'keep Vader alive' after 'stepping back from the role'.
Lucasfilm has been working with Ukrainian Respeecher, a new technology by a company of the same name, that takes archival recordings to create new dialogue.
Speaking to the publication, Matthew explained: '[James] had mentioned he was looking into winding down this particular character. So how do we move forward?'
He revealed that Respeecher has allowed for James' voice to be used in all future films, even 'those produced after his own passing,' after the actor gave his blessing.
Matthew added that James 'signed over the rights to his voice to keep Vader alive' after 'stepped back from the role,' although did not confirm his retirement.
It comes after the identity of the Darth Vader voice in the new Obi-Wan Kenobi series on Disney+ was finally disclosed.
Darth Vader can be heard in episode three of the show, which takes place between the events of the Star Wars prequel trilogy and the original trilogy.
A report from TV Line confirmed that the voice is that of James Earl Jones, who continued lending his talents to the part of Darth Vader throughout the original trilogy, which ended in 1983.
He briefly returned to the role for the final instalment of the prequel trilogy, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith, released in 2005.
James then voiced Darth Vader in the last movie in the new sequel trilogy, the 2019 film Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise Of Skywalker.
Between trilogies, he could be heard in the role in the critically acclaimed 2016 spin-off film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
Although James did the voice acting for the role, the actor inside the Darth Vader costume doing the physical movements was always someone else.
David Prowse was inside the iconic black uniform in the original trilogy, while Hayden Christensen - who played Anakin for the second two films in the prequel trilogy - put on the Darth Vader costume in Episode III.
Because of James Earl Jones' age and the relatively few acting jobs he takes nowadays, it was not an absolute certainty he would work on the current show.
