While Darth Vader perished long ago in the annals of Star Wars history, with new villain Kylo Ren said to be searching for various artifacts that once belonged to the Sith Lord in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, it sounds like the iconic sci-fi villain will be making a return in at least one of the upcoming Star Wars movies. MakingStar Wars has a rumor that is twofold today. One suggests that Hayden Christensen is returning in some capacity to play Luke's father in Star Wars: Episode VIII. And another claims that Darth Vader's iconic costume has made it's way to the Rogue One: A Star Wars Story set.

It has not been confirmed in any official capacity that Darth Vader will make an appearance in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. But it certainly makes sense for his presence to be felt, even if we don't see him on screen. The movie's storyline takes place between the events of Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, at a time when Vader is building his reputation as one of the most feared forces in the galaxy. Earlier in the year, there were murmurs that some Darth Vader concept art had been spotted in the wild, which was said to be for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Now it's being said that a fully operational Darth Vader chest piece was spotted on set.

The chest piece was said to be spotted alongside a Darth Vader helmet in the creature shop for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The chest piece even contains working lights. But what makes this rumor suspect is the fact that there was only one costume set. Usually the movie calls for multiple costume pieces. Also, just because a Darth Vader prop was spotted in the creature shop doesn't necessarily mean the villain has made it into the movie.

According to MakingStar Wars, there are not multiple Darth Vader suits. Just the one. Maybe the one that was spotted was the first one made, and there are more to come. Maybe it was created to serve as inspiration. No one really knows at this point. Where the rumor gets a little strange is when sources start throwing Hayden Christensen into the mix.

It is said that a team in the UK is flying to the U.S. soon, where they will begin training Hayden Christensen for scenes in Star Wars: Episode VIII. Of course, there are no details for what these scenes may consist of. Is Hayden Christensen returning as the Anakin ghost that was placed into Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi? That might make sense, but if that's the case, what does he need to be trained for? Possibly he'll be part of a flashback scene? But that doesn't seem likely either as Disney has tried very hard to distance itself from the prequels, even though they are considered canon.

It will be known whether these rumors have any legs as production continues on Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Star Wars: Episode VIII. As we've seen with Star Wars: The Force Awakens, a lot of the rumors actually panned out, or were seeds for a bigger idea. If we hear more about Hayden Christensen and the presence of Darth Vader in the near future, we can suspect they may be participating in some capacity. But both films won't hit for a while. We have a lot of time to figure out all this madness. What do you think? Do you want to see Darth Vader return on the big screen? Do you want to see Hayden Christensen be the one to bring him there?