Do You Think We Could See Emperor Palpatine Again in Any New STAR WARS Movies? Ian McDiarmid Weighs In

Like a lot of other Star Wars fans, when Emperor Palpatine showed up in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker I was underwhelmed with that direction of storytelling. I get what Lucasfilm and J.J. Abrams were trying to do and now The Mandalorian series is playing with that whole cloning concept, but I think there must’ve been a more interesting direction to take things than resurrecting an old villain.

There were a lot of reasons why it didn’t work especially with the lack of setup. The sudden return of Emperor Palpatine felt forced and lacked a proper setup within the sequel trilogy. There was no foreshadowing or hints in the previous two films, The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, about Palpatine's survival and it made it feel like it wasn’t an organic part of the story.

I also thought it underminds Anakin Skywalker's sacrifice. Anakin Skywalker's redemption and sacrifice to destroy the Emperor in Return of the Jedi were powerful and meaningful moments in the original trilogy. However, Palpatine's return diminishes the significance of Anakin's sacrifice.

The movie doesn't provide a clear explanation of how Palpatine survived his apparent death in Return of the Jedi. This lack of explanation left the audience with unanswered questions, but The Mandalorian is currently playing with all that stuff.

Anyway, it was recently announced that Lucasfilm was developing a new Rey Skywalker movie that will tell a new story set after the events of The Rise of Skywalker. Daisy Ridley is set to reprise her role in the film which is being helmed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (Ms. Marvel) from a script written by Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders).

Do you think there’s a chance that Palptine will appear in this new movie? I mean, I guess at this point anything can happen! The reason I ask is because actor Ian McDiarmid was asked if he might return in a flashback or something. He said, "I haven't been approached." 

Even if he has been approached, he’s not going to admit it! McDiarmid has been involved in all three eras of the Star Wars cinematic franchise, his last appearance was in a brief cameo in the Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi series, so if they asked him to come back, of course, he’s going to do it.

If not the Rey movie, do you think we will see him again in any of the other projects in development, like Dave Filoni’s upcoming movie? What do you think his future in the franchise looks like?

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