More so than any other character, it's Darth Vader that's synonymous with the whole Star Wars franchise. He's the main villain of the original trilogy and, in his Anakin Skywalker guise, the star of the prequel trilogy. His image even appeared on the teaser poster for The Phantom Menace, although he didn't actually appear in the full asthmatic apparell on-screen until Episode III. But with the Inquisitors supposedly taking up the gauntlet of the main antagonists for Episode VII and, well, Vader's death at the end of Return Of The Jedi, that rather precludes him from showing up in the new trilogy. Or does it...? Maybe not, if you're the sort who believes internet hearsay. Which, at this point, is probably safe to assume. One of the strangest rumours that's been circulating around Star Wars Episode VII is that Irish wrestler Sheamus might be taking time off from running around in WWE-emblazoned underwear to play an unlikely role in the new movie. If the tabloids are to be believed, the reason he's not appeared at any wrestling events recently is because he's been playing (at least the body of) Darth Vader. You know, the dead guy. Wuh? Well, it all ties together with those Inquisitors again, according to the gossip-mongers. He won't be properly resurrected or anything - thankfully, that would be silly - but will instead appear in flashback scenes from before Return Of The Jedi, and possibly before the original trilogy entirely. Apparently young actress Billie Lourd - Carrie Fisher's IRL daughter - has been cast to play Princess Leia as a tyke, implying that the Vader scenes will be set around the same time as the Rebels TV series (ie 16 years after Episode III and 5 years before Episode IV). From what we hear there will be a considerable retcon about how the Inquisitors were working for Vader all along through the original trilogy but it's only now, once he's fallen, they are forced into the foreground. Even once the flashbacks are over Darth will remain a presence in the movie, as the central Inquisitor - said to be a creepy, half-cyborg bad guy - will be a little obsessed with him. We bet his impression isn't as good as ours.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
