Rumors are circulating that Ian McDiarmid will reprise his role of Emperor Palpatine in the new Star Wars: Episode VII coming in 2015…
Star Wars: Episode VII rumors have been running rampant ever since the new film was announced the moment Disney purchased Lucasfilm and the Star Wars franchise from creator George Lucas.
First the rumors all circled about who would direct the new franchise, and that was finally settled when Disney hired Lost creator and Star Trek resurrecter J.J. Abrams to lead the charge.
Next came the rumors about the old cast members from the original series returning in some capacity for the new films. We then heard about actors like Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher going on diets to drop some pounds so they could appear in the new movies.
Now the latest rumor involves an actor who was in both the original series and the prequels released by George Lucas, who could be making a return from the dead (sort of) in the new movies that will begin with Star Wars: Episode VII in 2015.
According to several news sites, Ian McDiarmid is apparently rumored to reprise his role as Emperor Palpatine in the new Star Wars series.
Of course the obvious question about his return is how that would happen considering the last time we saw the Emperor he was being tossed down an energy shaft by a one-handed Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi.
Well, the rumors (if they are true) say that Palpatine would return in the new film as a ghost Sith Lord similar to the way that Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda both appeared in past films after they died.
The real kicker to this whole rumor mill is why Palpatine is returning as a ghost—it’s because he had another apprentice in training that will be the new antagonist in the upcoming film series that he was preparing to take over for Darth Vader.
In the prequels, Palpatine had several apprentices that he was mentoring from Darth Maul to Darth Vader, so if this rumor is true he had set up a new person to take over in case Vader met his demise (which he did).
Now like any Star Wars: Episode VII rumor, everything has to be taken with a grain of salt, but given McDiarmid’s age (he’s only 69) and part in both the original series and the prequels, his return could be an easy transition to the new power that will end up serving as the big bad in the new franchise.
