Who Could Matt Smith Be Playing In Star Wars: Episode IX?

The Time Lord is plotting course for a galaxy far, far away – not the current Doctor (Jodie Whittaker), mind you, but a Doctor nonetheless.

Yes, earlier this week it was announced that Matt Smith, star of Doctor Who and Netflix darling The Crown, was climbing aboard Star Wars: Episode IX in a mystery role. And that’s just it.

As is typical for any Star Wars production at Lucasfilm, details about Smith’s character are being kept under lock and key, where they’ll likely remain until the latter stages of 2018 – if not early 2019, by which point the Powers That Be should be ready to unveil the first footage of Episode IX in action.

But that hasn’t stopped the good folks at Radio Times from slapping their tinfoil hats on to speculate about Matt Smith’s involvement in Star Wars: Episode IX, ultimately asking the million-dollar question: will he play friend or foe to the Resistance?

The overriding consensus appears to be that Smith has actually clinched the role of a high-ranking officer of the First Order, given Netflix subscribers have watched him play a cold, calculating warlord for almost two years. There’s also a very real possibility that he’ll be introduced as Snoke’s other apprentice, which proved to be one of the big theories coming out of The Last Jedi. Or, failing that, Grand Admiral Thrawn, but that’s admittedly a bit of a stretch.

However, in the glass-half-full scenario, it’s also possible that Matt Smith could play one of the good guys who swears allegiance to the Resistance during their most desperate hour. Of course, this is Star Wars, so Smith may well be playing some form of alien a la Simon Pegg in The Force Awakens. Only time will tell, but feel free to continue the speculation down below.