Palpatine's Return Rumors Show How Badly Rise Of Skywalker Messed Up
Somehow, The Rise of Skywalker messed up Palpatine's comeback — and the lethargy that has greeted fresh rumors of the villain's survival proves it. As the overarching villain of Star Wars' Skywalker saga, no one was hugely surprised when Ian McDiarmid returned as Sheev Palpatine in J.J. Abrams' sequel trilogy closer, The Rise of Skywalker. Questions over whether Star Wars could resurrect Palpatine without negating Anakin Skywalker's Return of the Jedi redemption were understandably asked, but in the right context, Palpatine's presence in the sequel era could've been glorious. As it turned out, preserving Anakin's sacrifice was the least of J.J. Abrams' Palpatine problems.
Though Rey Palpawalker seemingly vanquished her wrinkly Sith grandfather forever in The Rise of Skywalker's final battle, rumors of his demise may have been greatly exaggerated. Ian McDiarmid recently admitted to Metro that his Star Wars journey was probably over following The Rise of Skywalker, but pointed to Hayden Christensen's Darth Vader reprisal in Obi-Wan Kenobi as proof Palpatine, "might be discovered once again skulking in the shadows." McDiarmid's suggestion (however lightly it was made) sparked fan debate over Palpatine's potential survival — a conversation no doubt encouraged by the recent reports of a fresh Star Wars trilogy in Disney's pipeline. Sadly, it's this discourse that highlights just how gravely The Rise of Skywalker damaged Palpatine's reputation.
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Online reaction to the prospect of Palpatine in a future Star Wars project has been something of a collective groan. The cautious excitement and balanced skepticism that greeted McDiarmid's The Rise of Skywalker casting
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