Warning. This rumour, if true, contains MAJOR spoilers for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Proceed with caution…
During the big Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker reveal at last month’s Star Wars Celebration, it was confirmed that Ian McDiarmid’s Emperor Palpatine will be making his return to the franchise for the final instalment of the Skywalker saga, although given his apparent fate in Return of the Jedi, it’s unclear as to how the character will factor into the story.
Well, according to Making Star Wars, we may now have an answer, as the site is reporting that the spirit of Darth Sidious will possess a dark side acolyte, played by Matt Smith (the same Matt Smith who recently denied he was in the movie, and was previously rumoured to be portraying a young version of Palpatine).
The fan site states that Smith is 100% part of the movie (he was apparently featured in the cast list on Disney’s Czech Republic website, although this has since been removed), and his character will wilfully allow old Sheev to take over his body.
The rest of this post discusses the alleged ending for The Rise of Skywalker, so if that’s something you’d really like to avoid, you may want to stop reading…
Making Star Wars’ report then goes on to discuss the third act of the movie, stating that “during the final act of the film Rey and Kylo team up to fight the Palpatine possessed Matt Smith. The two-on-one duel is pretty intense for the duo. Eventually Kylo Ren kills Palpatine’s host body and Palpatine’s spirit then jumps into Kylo Ren’s body. Kylo Ren is strong enough to not lose total control of his mental faculties. Kylo Ren struggles to take control of his body but subdues himself and his weapon while beckoning Rey to kill him. Kylo does the right thing and becomes Ben Solo again as he sacrifices himself to kill Palpatine. Rey having never toyed with the dark side like Kylo Ren and the acolyte did means Palpatine has body evil enough to inhabit.”
While this should be treated as an unconfirmed rumour, Making Star Wars does have an impressive track record with regards to Star Wars scoops, and should Episode IX see Kylo Ren sacrificing himself to finally rid the galaxy of the Sith, then it would indeed mark the end of the Skywalker saga. Unless J.J. Abrams retcons Rey’s origin, of course…
What do you make of these rumours? Are you interesting in seeing Rey and Kylo Ren teaming up to battle a Matt Smith-version of Palpatine? Let us know in the comments below or tweet us @FlickeringMyth…
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is set for release on December 20th 2019 with J.J. Abrams (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) directing a cast that includes Star Wars veterans Daisy Ridley (Rey), Adam Driver (Kylo Ren), John Boyega (Finn), Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron), Lupita Nyong’o (Maz Kanata), Domhnall Gleeson (General Hux), Kelly Marie Tran (Rose Tico), Joonas Suotamo (Chewbacca), Billie Lourd (Lieutenant Connix), Greg Grunberg (Snap Wexley), Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian) and Carrie Fisher (Leia Organa) as well as new additions Naomi Ackie (Lady Mabeth), Richard E. Grant (Logan), Dominic Monaghan (Lost), and Keri Russell (The Americans).
Originally published June 11, 2019. Updated July 24, 2019.
