Almost five years on and the decision to resurrect Emperor Palpatine as the ultimate ‘big bad’ for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker remains a controversial one, coming as it did as part of a hastily-cobbled together final chapter of not only the Disney Sequel Trilogy, but the entire ‘Skywalker Saga’.
In the wake of the hugely divisive Star Wars: The Last Jedi, as well as plot changes necessitated by the passing of Carrie Fisher and Lucasfilm’s rotating creative teams, upending the climax of Return of the Jedi (and the entire Anakin Skywalker arc established by George Lucas in the original films) with a completely unforeshadowed comeback could perhaps have been forgiven, had the filmmakers attempted any kind of explanation beyond waving it away to the audience with a “somehow”.
However, that “somehow” was enough to spark the enthusiasm of actor Ian McDiarmid, who has been defending Palpatine’s inclusion in Rise of Skywalker in an interview with Empire Online, during which he explained why the Dark Lord’s return was entirely in keeping with his character.
“A lot of people said it was ridiculous,” McDiarmid said. “Of course, he was dead at the end of Return Of The Jedi! And frankly, I think George thought he’d killed me too. But J.J. thought it would be a good idea – I wasn’t going to argue with him…. I felt that Palpatine always had a plan B – probably a plan C, D, E, and F as well. And he was an expert in cloning, so…”
“The thing that I’m most pleased about, and you know, this only came to a head when they asked me to come back for The Rise Of Skywalker, is that every single evil act in all of the Star Wars franchise is either directly or indirectly down to that character,” he continued. “That is total evil, and that’s strangely satisfying as an arc. I do feel fortunate to have been able to do it – and other villains of cinema now have to compete with that.”
Despite Palpatine’s latest death in Rise of Skywalker, it remains to be seen whether we’ll see McDiarmid donning the Sith robes again – although hopefully not as the once-more resurrected villain of the upcoming Rey Skywalker / New Jedi Order movie!
