James Earl Jones and his voice are a part of pop culture’s legacy. It’ll probably return to us someday.

You know him from his roles as Darth Vader, Mufasa, and other characters distinguished by their exceptionally recognizable voices. James Earl Jones has passed away, and I feel that his departure has left a sizable hole in pop culture. Are we sure there’s no way to bring him back to life in some form?

I have a habit of dedicating an evening to someone famous when they pass away, especially if it’s someone I deeply admired. During that time, I give them an emotional “funeral” by watching a film where the actor or actress delivered an outstanding, memorable performance. That’s how I said goodbye to Rutger Hauer, and more recently, Alain Delon. I decided that a tribute should also be paid to the actor who gave his voice to Darth Vader. But I’ll surprise you — to honor Jones, I didn’t reach for “A New Hope”. I went for “Conan“.

I love this film, but now isn’t the time or place to explain its uniqueness. I’ll use “Conan” as an example to show that Jones excelled in traditional acting as well. Arnold, let’s be honest, mostly acts with his muscles in “Conan” — he had no real experience or technique yet. It’s James Earl Jones, especially in the final act, who carries the film on his shoulders with his acting.

There are two scenes I’d like to highlight that are crucial to this role. The first scene happens right at the beginning of the film. Thulsa Doom dismounts from his horse, removes his helmet, grabs a sword, and stares with his incredibly penetrating gaze into the eyes of Conan’s mother. His look is so hypnotic that she abandons any intention of attacking her tormentor. He takes advantage of this moment of weakness and swiftly beheads her.

The second moment is perhaps Jones’ most famous scene in the film. Thulsa Doom demonstrates his power. Unlike Conan, Doom’s strength doesn’t come from physicality but from the art of persuasion. With just a nod and a brief command, he summons a woman to jump off a cliff to her death — and she, of course, does exactly as her leader orders. Doom uses this example to show Conan what true power is: the ability to influence others.

Today, I see this as a meta-commentary on the actor’s work itself. Notice that he rarely (if ever) played the lead role. In fact, he often didn’t even need to appear physically on screen. His incredibly compelling voice alone was enough for the actor’s charisma to spill over the entire scene.

There’s no doubt that Jones had one of the most recognizable voices in the history of cinema. I’d put him on the same level as Orson Welles (interestingly, Welles was originally meant to voice Darth Vader, but Lucas decided he was too recognizable for the role). It’s worth noting that while James Earl Jones is primarily known for his voice roles, his body of work spans various roles in theater, film (and television), as seen in “Conan”, which I mentioned earlier.

Jones’ voice is so deeply ingrained in pop culture that I have serious doubts that we will simply stop hearing him after his passing. I’m convinced that lawyers are already working, reviewing licenses and going through the contracts the actor signed with various studios, especially Disney.

There are many ways James Earl Jones could return, but I’m not talking about generating his image digitally (as was recently done with Ian Holm in “Alien: Romulus”). Rather, I mean his… phonetic return. The “Obi-Wan Kenobi” series has already shown that artificial intelligence could handle recreating the actor’s iconic voice for a character. If Darth Vader were to return once more — for a series, film, or (most likely) a video game — the new material would undoubtedly be created using available recordings. For now, however, it’s unclear whether using the actor’s voice posthumously is even an option on the table. Knowing the mechanisms of modern Hollywood, it’s hard to say it’s impossible.