“Streaming” columnist NICK OVERALL looks at the rise and rise of the man in the Darth Vader helmet.

TWENTY years ago if Hayden Christensen came up in conversation about his role in “Star Wars”, odds are it wouldn’t sound pretty.

The actor had the hate piled on when he portrayed the light-saber-wielding and sand-hating Anakin Skywalker, a young Jedi doomed to become Darth Vader in George Lucas’ widely detested trio of prequel films in the early 2000s.

Christensen’s performance copped so much criticism that it entered the realm of comical. The actor was even nominated for “worst supporting actor” at 2002’s Razzie awards for his performance.

Fast forward to this week though, almost exactly two decades since Christensen first appeared in a galaxy far far away, and one will notice a complete 180 in the way he’s received.

Fans have rolled out the red carpet for his highly anticipated return as Anakin Skywalker in Disney Plus’ newest “Star Wars” mini-series, “Obi-Wan Kenobi”, a spin-off set smack bang in the middle of 2005’s controversial “Revenge of The Sith” and the 1977 classic “A New Hope”.

The series will see frontman Ewan McGregor also return as the show’s titular character. He reprises his role as the Jedi master who watches from afar as a young Luke Sywalker grows up on Tatooine in the years leading up to their fateful meeting in that film that 45 years ago changed pop-culture forever.

Fans were always more adoring of McGregor as Obi-Wan and are excited to see him return to the screen, but it was the announcement of Christensen back as Darth Vader that truly set the hype into warp drive.

One could never have predicted that one day there’d be this kind of craving for content from the prequels. Somehow, in all their “lameness”, for lack of a better word, it seems a new, almost ironic enjoyment of the films has emerged.

Their cringeworthy dialogue has become the subject of an endless slew of memes and jokes that has created a new and truly bizarre love-hate relationship with the movies.

“It’s been so heartwarming for ‘Star Wars’ fans to finally embrace me,” Christensen said in a recent interview. “I guess the moral of the story is patience.”

It will be interesting to see whether in another 20 years this will also become the case for “Star Wars” episodes seven, eight and nine, released in the last few years by Disney and which have now become the new object of fan’s ire.

Hard to say. No one hates “Star Wars” like “Star Wars” fans, after all.

FOR streamers who prefer to stay down on earth, Binge has brought together the talent of home-grown hero Toni Collette and British star Colin Firth into a new true-crime crime thriller that’s bound to be another hit.

It’s called “The Staircase”, and it dives into the 14-year-long murder trial of Michael Peterson, a novelist who one night found his wife dead at the bottom of their family home’s staircase and who would spend more than a decade fighting for his innocence in the aftermath.

Collette is unsurprisingly excellent as Kathleen Peterson, but Firth’s performance is the linchpin of the drama here. He walks a tightrope between narcissism and likability, keeping the audience questioning the truth behind his character, similar to the way the real case mystified its juries.

What may confuse viewers is that Netflix also has a series titled “The Staircase” about the same trial, however this is a documentary about the notorious case, rather than a dramatic recreation.

Whether you prefer a doco or a drama series, this is a compelling true crime tale that’s worth checking out.

JEAN Smart has carved herself as one of modern television’s most diverse talents.

She played a chilling matriarch of a crime family in season two of the oddball crime-comedy series “Fargo”, a show that’s easily one of Netflix’s best offerings.

She was also the mother of Kate Winslet’s hangdog detective in last year’s excellent “Mare of Easttown”. In “Watchmen”, Smart even threw her hat in the superhero ring as FBI detective Laurie Blake, a former masked vigilante turned special agent.

But it’s undoubtedly Stan’s comedy series “Hacks” where she shines the most.

Here Smart stars as Deborah Vance, a Las Vegas stand-up comedy diva struggling to stay relevant and who teams up with a twenty-something comedy writer who’s been “cancelled” after an insensitive tweet.

The series’ first season took out some of the most sought after awards in the TV industry, awash in Emmys for outstanding writing, directing and of course an acting gong for Smart.

Season two hits the highway for a road trip that’s got similar vibes to the ‘90s classic “Thelma and Louise”. Rest assured though, based on the excellent first few episodes of the new season, “Hacks” certainly isn’t going over any cliff anytime soon.