The decision to have Palpatine revealed as the big bad for the third Star Wars trilogy in a row wasn’t exactly a universally popular one, with many feeling that it only highlighted Disney and Lucasfilm’s unwillingness to take any risks or show any sort of imagination when it came to telling new stories set in a galaxy far, far away.
With the Skywalker Saga now in the rearview mirror though, the possibilities are almost limitless as to where the big screen franchise can go from here, although that hasn’t stopped near-constant rumors making the rounds that Star Wars will continue to look to the past rather than the future when it comes to the next generation of movies.
The Mandalorian looks set to incorporate elements of the expanded universe, with Ahsoka Tano and Bo-Katan set to make the jump to live-action after becoming firm fan favorites in the animated realm, and now a new rumor hints that a cult villain could also be set for similar treatment.
According to the latest claims, Grand Admiral Thrawn might be set to play a major role as an antagonist for either the Disney Plus shows or the next batch of movies. And obviously, this is far from the first time the character has been linked to making the transition.
With Star Wars in dire need of some new blood after The Rise of Skywalker brought George Lucas’ original nine-movie arc to a close, which relied far too heavily on fan service and nostalgia, bringing names like Thrawn to the big screen as the next big bad to replace Palpatine would certainly be a wise move. After all, it’d appeal to both longtime fans with a knowledge of canon as well as those who just want their Star Wars projects to feature some characters that haven’t existed in some form for over 40 years and been done to death already.
