It appears that James Earl Jones has decided to pull the plug on his storied performance as the voice of Darth Vader in the Star Wars franchise, but that doesn’t mean it’s the last we’ll hear from him. Thanks to modern technology, Jones, who has played the character since Vader’s first introduction in the original Star Wars, 1977’s Episode IV – A New Hope, has signed off on archival use of his voice to be regurgitated for new releases, according to Vanity Fair. Unconvinced of the quality? Disney’s Summer release, Obi-Wan Kenobi, featured the sound experiment with Jones’ oversight, to the satisfaction of fans and even Jones’ family. In order to accomplish the feat, Lucasfilm has linked up with Ukrainian startup Respeecher, which manipulates old recordings and turns them into new ones, a working relationship that has been challenged by Russia’s invasion of the country. The two started working together on The Book of Boba Fett, when Respeecher handled the voice of young Luke Skywalker. “He had mentioned he was looking into winding down this particular character,” Matthew Wood, a Lucasfilm 32-year veteran of the company, told Vanity Fair of Jones’ decision. “So how do we move forward?”
