Anakin Skywalker was the Chosen One. Born of the Force itself. Trained by Obi-Wan, prophesied by the Jedi, and feared by the Sith. Even before he turned, everyone around him knew how powerful he was—and how much more dangerous he could become.
But that future never happened.
And according to George Lucas, Anakin wasn’t the strongest Jedi. In his vision, there was someone else—and it wasn’t Yoda, Mace Windu, or even Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Why Lucas Believed Luke Surpassed Anakin
Anakin may have been the Chosen One, but in George Lucas’s eyes, he never fulfilled the role the way he was meant to. In a 2005 interview with Rolling Stone, Lucas explained that while Anakin had the potential to be the greatest Jedi, he ultimately failed. The one who actually lived up to that path was his son.
“He wasn’t what he was supposed to become. But the son could become that”
That’s the heart of Lucas’s idea: Luke is the second chance. Both father and son get pulled toward the dark side for someone they love. Anakin gives in because he’s desperate to save Padmé. Luke gets tested the same way—especially when the Emperor threatens Leia—but Luke chooses a different path and refuses to fall.
In a 2005 Vanity Fair interview, Lucas also explains why Palpatine pivots to Luke so quickly. In his words, “with Luke, he can get a more primo version,” because Luke is put in the same kind of moral test Anakin faced, “Anakin says yes and Luke says no.”
Why Anakin Stopped Being the Strongest Jedi
From the point above, you can see another Lucas perspective: Anakin was supposed to become the strongest Jedi who ever lived—but one thing took that future away.
Obi-Wan.
In Lucas’s framework, raw Force potential is tied to midi-chlorians—the more you have, the stronger your connection can be. And Anakin is the extreme case. In The Phantom Menace, Qui-Gon tests his blood and finds a count higher than any Jedi he’s ever seen. That’s the setup for why Anakin could have become something unmatched.
But Mustafar changes the math.
In the same 2005 Vanity Fair interview, Lucas explains that Anakin “was going to be extremely powerful,” but after the injuries, “a lot of his ability to use the Force… [and] powers, are curbed,” because “as a living form, there’s not that much of him left.” He even says Anakin’s potential to be “twice as good as the Emperor” disappears, and that he ends up “maybe 20 percent less than the Emperor.” Lucas sums it up bluntly: Palpatine wanted “this really super guy,” but that plan “got derailed by Obi-Wan.”