Star Wars: Episode VIII THEORY - Is Benicio Del Toro Playing Grand Admiral Thrawn?

4. How (And Why) Would He Fit Into The New Trilogy?

Before getting to why del Toro could be playing as Thrawn, we first need to theorise why Lucasfilm would choose to bring the character across to the big screen. The big reason in that regard is providing a sense of purpose. If Star Wars is going to forge into the future further and further away from Vader's death, it needs something strong to justify itself. And while bringing a character conceived after Return Of The Jedi isn't a definite way to do that, it certainly ties what's new to what fans perceive as "classic" Star Wars and gives a reason to making more movies beyond simply justifying that $4.05 billion price tag. It makes sense in terms of the series' ongoing development too. Johnson, the film's writer/director (who's also penning Colin Trevorrow's Episode IX), is a long-standing Star Wars fan, so will likely have some affinity with the character and understand his importance in the bigger Star Wars mythos, and unlike J.J. Abrams, who is working with the much bigger issue of rebooting the whole franchise, he theoretically has the freedom to go down these more "out there" avenues. It's hardly worth speculating how exactly Thrawn would fit into the plot given that we know very little about the state of the galaxy post-Return Of The Jedi (and nothing about where The Force Awakens leaves it), but it seems possible that the movie version would operate similar to his literary counterpart; The Force Awakens' broad idea of a post-Empire faction tackling with a more established successor to the Rebellion is very in-line with Thrawn's Legends' status quo.