“Palpatine always had a Plan B”: Ian McDiarmid is Fed up of Star Wars Fans Trolling His Controversial Return
Scottish actor Ian McDiarmid was introduced to the reputed intergalactic franchise Star Wars in 1983 with the Return Of Jedi. He went on to play one of the most iconic villains Palpatine, in the history of cinema. The actor nearing his 80s reprised the character of the deformed and scarred villain Palapatine in the 2019 project Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Ian McDiarmid has played the character of Palpatine for almost four decades in the various projects from the billion-dollar intergalactic franchise. During a recent interview with a media outlet, Ian McDiarmid addressed his controversial comeback in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
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Ian McDiarmid Talks About His Controversial Return Of Emperor Palpatine In Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker was the third and final chapter of the Star Wars sequel trilogy. Ian McDiarmid’s Emperor Palpatine was seen in the 2019 released Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker. Emperor Palpatine’s mysterious appearance took the Star Wars fans by surprise. They were curious about how the famous villain made a straightaway entry to the The Rise Of Skywalker.
During a recent interview with the media outlet Empire on the 25th anniversary of the prequel trilogy, Ian McDiarmid spoke about his mysterious comeback to the Star Wars franchise. While addressing about Emperor Palpatine’s resurrection, the 79-year-old actor said-
“A lot of people said it was ridiculous. Of course, he was dead at the end of Return Of The Jedi! And frankly, I think George [Lucas] thought he’d killed me too. But J.J. [Abrams] thought it would be a good idea – I wasn’t going to argue with him… I felt that Palpatine always had a plan B – probably a plan C, D, E, and F as well. And he was an expert in cloning, so…”
His return set the Internet on fire back in 2019 because he was totally destroyed by Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader in the original trilogy. Ian McDiarmid-led Emperor Palpatine had not been featured in any of the previous installments, and his sudden appearance in Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker did not make any sense to the franchise fans across the world. The lack of specificity for the antagonist Emperor Palpatine in the plot of The Rise of The Skywalker drew criticism from the fans.
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Ian McDiarmid Talks The Best Of Emperor Palpatine’s Return To The Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
During an interview with Empire recently, Ian McDiarmid was asked about his comeback and what he liked the most about his return to the Star Wars franchise. While talking about what he enjoyed the most after his return, he said-
“The thing that I’m most pleased about, and you know, this only came to a head when they asked me to come back for The Rise of Skywalker, is that every single evil act in all of the Star Wars franchise is either directly or indirectly down to that character. That is total evil, and that’s strangely satisfying as an arc. I do feel fortunate to have been able to do it – and other villains of cinema now have to compete with that.”
According to the 2019 released Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker, Rey Skywalker was shown as a descendant of Palpatine. While addressing the curiosity of the fans regarding how he was able to have a son and a granddaughter, McDiarmid explained-
Just, don’t take the existence of Daisy Ridley’s Rey – revealed to be Palpatine’s granddaughter in The Rise Of Skywalker – as proof that the Emperor liked to… well… do it. Please don’t pursue that line too vigorously. But yes, he does [have sex]. It’s a horrible idea to think of Palpatine having sex in any shape or form. But then, of course, perhaps he didn’t.”
With a production budget of $416 million, Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker went on to amass a staggering box office collection of $1.077 billion. With an IMDb rating of 6.4 out of 10, Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker can be streamed on Prime Video.
