Main Palpatine/Ian Mcdiarmid Episode IX Thread

You could be right. JJ mentioned some kind of "super" evil in the panel. It could be Palpatine, but by the way he spoke it seemed like it was something new. So, Palpatine may indeed be a red herring. He could still have a significant role, but perhaps there's something else we haven't seen yet.

 

Sidious is the best villain. His evil knows no ends.

 

I still don't think it will be the corporeal Palpatine. A manifestation or haunting perhaps. A trap left behind for those who seek certain things

 

Sidious is an incredible villain. Ian Mcdiarmid has an awe-inspiring presence, and it also makes sense that he might have learned the secret to cheating death. This has the potential to bring some much-needed connections between the ST and movies 1-6. However...

In spite of all that, I also have some serious concerns about the possibility of Palpatine returning. If Palpatine is alive, that means Anakin's sacrifice was in vain, the prophecy is ruined, and with the Empire already back in business, basically ROTJ is now all just a dream. It would be hard for them to explain why the Sith were extinct only to change their mind two movies later.

Anakin's sacrifice still has some value because it saved Luke - but according to the ST, Luke went on to just fail and then die, which makes even this angle less satisfying. And it's possible that Palpatine no longer calls himself a Sith, but still, the prophecy was that Anakin would destroy the Sith once and for all - not just rename them or put them on hiatus.

If Palpatine is alive, then in my opinion, they are seemingly either canceling the idea of the chosen one, or they are retconning the chosen one to be Rey. I already feel like the ST doesn't "fit" well enough with the existing movies, and if they do undo the idea of Anakin being the chosen one, in my opinion that will make the fittedness even worse.

I will still try to keep an open mind, and it would certainly be fun to see a new performance from Ian, but I can't help but feel like the ST is telling a story that "attacks" the previous movies instead of expanding upon them.

 

Thank god tRoS its not the Return of the Skywalker (RotS) because it would be a nightmare

 

Did anyone bother to read the articles I linked to?

Abrams and Co. did not reach out to George and heavily discuss Palpatine's involvement in the story before they started writing the script just for him to be a hologram of a vision.

The simplest explanation is that Palpatine returns in the flesh and has to be defeated again by this new generation of heroes, which might include two Skywalkers.

Palpatine's return as a significant part of the story also tracks with spoilers about the film, what we saw in the trailer in regards to Kylo fighting the Knights of Ren, Kathleen Kennedy's comments about Palpatine's return always having been planned in broad strokes, Abrams' comments about he, Terrio, and the other filmmakers working with George Lucas, and the film's status as the concluding chapter in a 9-hour story.

 

Just because they conferred with George does not offer proof that Palpatine is coming back in the flesh. They conferred with George to help figure out how to best bring Palpatine back for ROS. We will find out what was determined from those meetings when ROS is released. George very easily could have said there was no way to bring him back in the flesh that would work so something else could have been decided on. We just don’t know.

JJ has to walk a fine line with Sheev. They have to bring him back in such away that it does not take away from Vader/Anakin’s redemption in ROTJ yet still be a threat that the new heroes need to overcome in ROS

 

Hence why they worked directly with George.

Everything we currently know - from confirmed spoilers to statements from JJ and Kathleen Kennedy tto Stephen Colbert's behavior during the panel to the current SW Canon itself- indicates that the simplest explanation - Palpatine is back in the flesh as the "greatest evil" - is the correct one.

 

Could be and I’m not denying that it will happen. I’m just saying that talking with George is not direct proof he is coming back in the flesh. As per my example in my previous post what if George came in and said it could not be done. George is very protective over his past material. There is always the possibility that they came up with another effective way to do it.

 

Palpatine's return has been planned, in broad strokes, since the Sequel Trilogy started, and was always going to happen in Episode IX, as per Kathleen Kennedy; they just had to figure out the logistics of said return.

Is it possible that Palpatine's presence is small? Yes. Is that possibility likely given what we know? No. (IMO)

We'll see come December, though.

 

We will find out in December and I’m looking forward to seeing how they pull this off no matter what happens

 

No matter how much Palpy is involved, or how big his part is, I am so happy that we get more Ian McDiarmid in Star Wars. How crazy is that?! He is fantastic.

 

I feel pretty much the same. I don't think he will have a lot of screen time, but he will have a massive presence on the movie as a whole.

 

Let's get real, people.

You don't tease ol' Sheevy in the first trailer, and then BRING FRIGGIN IAN MCDIARMID to the Ep Ix panel, if he's just gonna be a hologram or a voice in someone's head.

Can you imagine that letdown? It's like "We told you this super cool thing would be in the movie, but PSYCH."

I think the whole reason for having Ian at the panel was to let us know this is serious, it's not just a tease and it's not just a cameo.

We are getting ol' Sheevy in the flesh or in a significant ghostly form that looks the same as in the flesh. He's back in a real way.

 

Another possibility is that they wanted to create excitement, hype and speculation. And they did.

 

They absolutely did. But what I'm saying is, they won't do that and not fulfill it. To do this and not have Ian in the movie in a significant role would be suicide.

 

Look what they did with Luke in TFA:s second teaser trailer:

In the end he was in TFA for a minute or something like that and he didnt say a word.

 

Also with all the build up prior with him being in Rebels. There is a Phantom Menace panel, before I thought he was going to be there for that. The best part? They even revealed he was coming to Celebration. No one had a clue it was for IX as well. We have to give major props to JJ and Lucasfilm for keeping this undergrasp. In the age of leakers, it's rather impressive; especially with a brand that is Star Wars. It gets leaked on a regular basis.

 

Abrams was expecting Ian's presence on the TROS set to be leaked and was pleasantly surprised that it didn't.