Recently the world lost what I would see as arguably the most recognizable voice in cinema. James Earl Jones, the individual who has the legacy of voicing Darth Vader, as well as being held in reverence for many other accolades across his over 60-year career, left this world on Sept. 9, in an announcement made by his representative Barry McPherson and confirmed by multiple news outlets such as Variety and CBS News, among others. 

     Although the fans of the well-known Star Wars franchise, and fans of Jones’ other notable works, which include “The Lion King,” “The Sandlot” “Coming to America” and “Patriot Games,” among others, are feeling the grief and loss of an icon according to the Variety article titled, “James Earl Jones, Distinguished Actor and Voice of Darth Vader, Dies at 93,” which was written by Adam B. Vary and Carmel Dagan on Sept. 9, 2024. This has also been a time for the fans of dozens of universes and franchises to come together to honor, commemorate and celebrate the life of an individual who has, in my opinion, had a hand in bringing the fans of pop culture the most iconic villain in all of cinema.

     According to the New York Times article titled, “12 Great Films of James Earl Jones,” which was written by Noel Murray and published on Sept. 9, 2024, Jones “helped change the perception of Black actors in Hollywood, creating indelible movie and TV characters who defied the prevailing stereotypes.” Despite coming up in the era of segregation and extremely limited opportunities for African Americans, especially in the world of Hollywood, Jones, to myself and Murray was a pioneer alongside Sidney Portier, who the article also references, for paving the way for their community to break through into the mainstream world. Despite having made many appearances on camera, notably in roles where Jones had since become a far more recognizable and well known of a figure, his voicing of Darth Vader in “Star Wars: A New Hope” is a large part of what made said franchise arguably the most well renowned in the world today.

     Jones, who although reprised the role personally for many projects within the Star Wars universe past the original in 1977 in films such as “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back” (1980), “Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi” (1983), “Star Wars: Revenge Of The Sith” (2005) and “Star Wars: Rogue One” (2016) according to each individual films’ credits, understood that this character was far too iconic to solely rely upon his personal involvement. 

     According to the Fox News article titled, “James Earl Jones’ controversial AI decision will let Darth Vader live on, but it raises concerns among actors,” which was written by Elizabeth Stanton and published on Sept. 13, 2024, Jones had spoken with Matthew Wood, who according to the article is a sound editor of Lucasfilm. They spoke after recording a brief line of dialogue for 2019’s “Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker,” and is quoted in saying he “had mentioned he was looking into winding down this particular character.”

     Following that, the article states that Jones later “signed off on using archival recordings of his voice,” Stanton wrote, with the notion that “they [Lucasfilm] kept him informed on plans for the character and listened to his advice on how to keep it consistent with Jones’ past work.”

     For me, although it makes practical sense for those at Disney and Lucasfilm to ensure that their arguably biggest draw for Star Wars is kept to the original as possible, at the end of the day, Jones was not forced to give this consent. However, to me, I see this as an understanding that this character and persona is far too precious to be confined to one individual and as a selfless act to put his fame to the side and allow the character he helped make so popular and infamous go beyond Jones himself. 

     As a final note, thank you to the fans who helped in recognizing the popularity of Darth Vader. Thank you to Lucasfilm for recognizing the talent of Jones before most did, and thank you to Jones himself. A legend who will continue to live on in the memories and hearts of millions for years to come.