The belovedStar Warssaga finally continued last year with the epicStar Wars: The Force Awakens, set 32 years after the 1983 classicReturn of the Jedi. This year, Disney and LucasFilm will debut the first of three plannedStar Wars spinoffs,Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, arriving in theaters December 16. This story will be set between the final prequelStar Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sithand the story that started it all,Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, although it seems an important character from that era of theStar Warstimeline may not be featured in this movie.
After appearing in five of the first sixStar Warsmovies,Ian McDiarmid’sEmperor Palpatinewas not featured in last year’sStar Wars: The Force Awakens. We learned in a recent trailer forRogue Onethat The Emperor’s iconic apprentice, Darth Vader, will have some sort of a presence, but it seems that The Emperor will not be featured. The actor revealed during an appearance at the Amsterdam Comic Con (viaStar Wars News Net), that he will not be reprising his role for this new space opera.
“Rogue One’s on its way, when I was in charge of things - I mean the Emperor, not me. I am not featured in [the movie] myself, but I understand that Darth Vader may be making an appearance.”
Long before we got our first brief glimpse atDarth Vaderin the newRogue Onetrailer, a report claimed that this iconic villain will have a much larger role in this story than originally believed, although no specifics were given. If Darth Vader does in fact have a large role inRogue One, then it’s rather surprising thatIan McDiarmidwon’t be present in this movie. However, it’s also possible that we will see the Emperor portrayed by a different cast member.
You may recall that thefirst trailerforRogue One: A Star Wars Storyfeatured a mystery character bowing to someone, or something, who was seen surrounded by the Emperor’s guards. It’s certainly possible that another actor will be standing in forIan McDiarmidas the Emperor, but if that’s the case, we don’t know if the Emperor will have any speaking lines, since it’s hard to imagine the franchise using anyone other thanIan McDiarmindto voice this character, since he was featured in both the original and prequel trilogies. It’s also possible that the actor may be protecting a secret reveal that he is in the movie, but we don’t know for sure. Take a look at the video interview withIan McDiarmid, which starts at the 6:24 mark of the video below.
