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Ian McDiarmid teases possible return as Palpatine in Obi-Wan Kenobi

By Dan Selcke

LAS VEGAS - MAY 29: Actor Ian McDiarmid's Emperor Palpatine character from the Star Wars series of films is shown on screen while musicians perform during "Star Wars: In Concert" at the Orleans Arena May 29, 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The traveling production features a full symphony orchestra and choir playing music from all six of John Williams' Star Wars scores synchronized with footage from the films displayed on a three-story-tall, HD LED screen. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS - MAY 29: Actor Ian McDiarmid's Emperor Palpatine character from the Star Wars series of films is shown on screen while musicians perform during "Star Wars: In Concert" at the Orleans Arena May 29, 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The traveling production features a full symphony orchestra and choir playing music from all six of John Williams' Star Wars scores synchronized with footage from the films displayed on a three-story-tall, HD LED screen. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /
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“Somehow Palpatine returned.” So says Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, revealing that the big bad of both the original and prequel Star Wars trilogies was back to shake things up for the sequels. Scottish actor Ian McDiarmid got to take his wicked character on one last wild ride.

And it does seem like it will be the last ride. As McDiarmid told Metro last year, “I think I have to accept that, thanks to my ungrateful granddaughter, my annihilation was finally final.” That’s in reference to Rey (Daisy Ridley) finally ending Palpatine’s generations-long reign of terror at the end of the film. Surely the former Emperor can’t come back from that…right?

Probably not. However, that doesn’t mean he couldn’t turn up in a Star Wars show or movie set in the past, and Disney is making a lot of those. For instance, we’ll soon be tuning into Disney+ to watch Obi-Wan Kenobi, which will once again star Ewan McGregor as the titular Jedi. The show is set after Palpatine rises to power in Revenge of the Sith but before Obi-Wan meets up with Luke in A New Hope. We already know that Darth Vader will be a part of the series, once again played by Hayden Christensen.

Might his boss show up too? We can’t be sure, but McDiarmid definitely seems open to the possibility. “Of course, [Darth] Vader is back in the new [Obi-Wan Kenobi] television series, so I suppose it’s not impossible that one day his mentor might be discovered once again skulking in the shadows,” he said.

Will Emperor Palpatine be in Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi?

Disney loves fan service, which only makes sense considering how well it pays: just look at the monster success of Spider-Man: No Way Home, which brought back the heroes and villains of past movies to the tune of over a billion dollars at the box office. In the Star Wars space, too, we’ve seen plenty of fan service of late, including multiple appearances from Luke Skywalker, made to look like he did during the Original Trilogy.

The Obi-Wan Kenobi show is basically one big exercise in fan service, revolving as it does around the returns of McGregor and Christensen from the prequel trilogy. This is all a long preamble to say that if McDiarmid doesn’t return as Emperor Palpatine at some point, I’ll be surprised.

Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi premieres on Disney+ on May 25, 2022.

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