“Long have I waited…”
Like it or lump it, the December release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker heralds the long-rumored return of Emperor Palpatine, the undisputed supervillain of Lucasfilm’s franchise.
He’s the master puppeteer who bent Anakin Skywalker (read: Darth Vader) to his will, until things went sideways and the Emperor was sent plummeting into the depths of Death Star 2.0. But somehow, Ian McDiarmid’s crooked Sith leader is about to stage his second coming, and the actor has finally broken his silence over The Rise of Skywalker.
Over on Twitter, McDiarmid welcomed the new (and indeed final) trailer for Episode IX with open arms, stating: “everything is going according to plan. Good.” It’s all the more chilling when you read it in Darth Sidious’ voice…
Everything is going according to plan. Good https://t.co/y8APBomZ3Q
— Ian McDiarmid (@IanMcDiarmid_) October 22, 2019
It’s still unclear exactly how Palpatine has triumphed over death – he did fall head-first into the reactor of a Death Star, so surely McDiarmid’s mega-villain has a few tricks up his sleeve – but director J.J. Abrams has already gone on record about the ways in which Episode IX brings the entire 9-film saga to a cohesive finale. Our guess? Palpatine’s inexplicable return (and the wreckage of the Death Star) has something to do with Abrams’ masterplan; we can only hope it’s as satisfying as last night’s trailer suggests.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker opens big on December 20th, and in case you’ve missed out on all the action, let’s recap: tickets for Episode IX are now officially on sale, with the runtime locked in at 155 minutes – the longest Star Wars movie in history – and it’s fair to say last night’s trailer reveal has sent the Internet into a collective tailspin.
December can’t come soon enough.
