10 Actors Who Have Mysterious Roles In Upcoming Films

2. Matt Smith - Star Wars: Episode IX

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BBC Studios

What We Know

Even though details about his Morbius character were recently revealed, Matt Smith still has a mystery role in a major upcoming movie left on the docket. This one is in Star Wars: Episode IX, where he'll join his former Doctor Who co-star Richard E. Grant.

So far, the only detail we know about his part is that it will be "key" (as per Variety), a word that has not been used to describe Russell's and Grant's parts. Based on this alone, it's safe to assume that Smith - out of all the new additions to the cast - has the most crucial part in the film

Who He Might Be Playing

A rumour from late last year posited that Smith will be playing young Emperor Palpatine in the film, which does seem to fit: the actor definitely has the right look for that sort of gaunt, pale, sinister role. Then again, de-aging technology is near-flawless these days, so why not just make Ian McDiarmid look younger with special effects?

A separate rumour posted on Reddit (via We Got This Covered) stated that Smith will be one of the Knights Of Ren, with the actor said to have been spotted on set wearing dark robes and clutching a lightsaber.

While both of these rumours should be taken with major grains of salt, all speculation (so far) does point to Smith being a villain, whether that's Palpatine, one of Kylo's cohorts, or someone else.

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Contributor

Danny has been with WhatCulture for almost nine years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing for 10+ years, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers and uploading them to YouTube (they're admittedly a bit rusty by today's standards). If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order or to tell you about the making of 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, Danny is the person to ask.