Star Wars: Ian McDiarmid Doesn’t Want Anyone Else to Play Palpatine

Star Wars veteran actor Ian McDiarmid admits that he doesn’t want anyone else playing the role of Emperor Palpatine in future films. The actor played Palpatine in four of the Star Wars films including The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, The Revenge of the Sith and Return of the Jedi.


Even though Palpatine was theoretically killed in Return of the Jedi when Darth Vader chose to save his son Luke Skywalker from Palpatine by throwing the Emperor into the Death Star’s reactor shaft, there’s still a chance we could see Palpatine show up in one of the anthology films Lucasfilm is producing. Palpatine won’t be making an appearance in the young Han Solo film slated to hit theaters in May, but there’s a chance he could show up in the future Obi-Wan Kenobi standalone currently in development or the many other anthology films Lucasfilm and Disney are considering surrounding Yoda, Boba Fett and even Jabba the Hutt.


According to Ian McDiarmid, he has no idea if he’ll be asked to play the Emperor again, but he does know that he doesn’t want anyone else playing the character he portrayed in four of the franchise’s films. In a new report on BBC News, McDiarmid, who is currently appearing in What Shadows at the Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh, spoke with BBC Scotland’s Timeline programme about his future with the Star Wars franchise and the possibility of returning. Here is what he said:

“I suppose there must be a chance but I think you’d find out about it more quickly than I would. As far as the new films are concerned, I’m dead. There is no question about that. But there is what they call the anthology series and actually the most recent one, Rogue One, was about the time when I was in charge. I was referred to a few times, Darth Vader popped up, but you did not see me. Maybe they are keeping me as a surprise for later but I have no idea. Of course, I don’t want anyone else to play him.”


It’s no surprise that McDiarmid doesn’t want anyone else to play the role he is best known for. His portrayal as Palpatine in the prequel series made him one of the most memorable characters in the franchise, which made Star Wars fans equally horrified by his influence over Anakin leading the young Jedi towards the dark side and amused by his signature laugh and over-all insanity.


If McDiarmid does ever make a return to the Star Wars universe, there are many films besides the ones in the works already that Palpatine could appear or even star in. In the comic series Legends released in 1991 and 1992 with the Dark Empire series of comic books written by Tom Veitch, the Emperor was resurrected as the Emperor Reborn or “Palpatine the Undying,” processing the body of Jeng Droga, one of Palpatine’s elite spies and assassins. We could also see a film starring Palpatine centered around the novel Darth Plagueis by James Luceno, which tells the backstory of the Sith Darth Plagueis and a young Palpatine. Either way, it would be exciting to see the Emperor make his grand entrance back into the galaxy far, far away.