By: Dominic Jones
Perhaps the biggest surprise revealed during Star Wars Celebration this past weekend was that Darth Sidious, aka Emperor Sheev Palpatine, would play some sort of role in the final installment of the sequel trilogy, Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker. The reveal was a major shock to all who watched the teaser trailer on Friday, and had many asking the question: was this in the plan all along or was this something new that director JJ Abrams came up with when he was brought on board in Fall 2017?
One person with that answer is Lucasfilm president, and film producer-extraordinaire, Kathleen Kennedy. Kennedy was interviewed by Yahoo! Entertainment after the panel, where she revealed that this was something the story tellers had been planning from the start. Kennedy said, "This has been in the blue print for a long time. We had not landed on how we might do that but, yes, it's always (to be in Episode IX)".
For his part, Abrams wouldn't reveal much about the role the Emperor would play however he did speak about what it was like working with actor Ian McDiarmid (who played Sidious in the original and prequel trilogies). Abrams told Yahoo! Entertainment, "I can only say that working with Ian was among the most wonderful experiences I've ever had. He is a breath-takingly good actor and I think it's going to be a lot of fun for audiences."
As for McDiarmid, when he was asked about it on Monday during the panel celebration 20 years of The Phantom Menace by host Warwick Davis, he said, "Friday, I just happened to be in the area, so I thought I should just to drop in for a laugh."
You can watch the interviews with Kennedy and Abrams in the video below,
And you can see McDiarmid's response below,
Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker hits theaters on
December 20th, 2019. The film is directed by JJ Abrams, with a script
by Abrams and Chris Terio, and stars Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John
Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Kelly Marie Tran, Mark Hamill, Billy Dee Williams,
Keri Russell, Richard E. Grant, Naomi Ackie, Lupita Nyong'o, Domhnall
Gleeson, Joonas Suotamo, and Carrie Fisher.
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