Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker - 8 Burning Questions Left By The Trailer
2. How Did The Emperor Survive - If That's The Case?
Star Wars villains have been known to survive seemingly deadly circumstances in the past, and this time, it looks to be Emperor Palpatine's turn, with the character's iconic laughter being heard at the very end of the trailer.
It wouldn't be totally ridiculous for the filmmakers to reveal that the character survived his fall at the end of Return Of The Jedi, since there are dozens of explanations they could come up with. This is Star Wars, fantastical sci-fi. Pretty much anything goes. Plus, Darth Maul survived even worse circumstances, so why couldn't Palpatine have done the same?
Alternatively, he could return as a force ghost, or holographic recording. We saw a force ghost in The Last Jedi when Yoda popped up for a quick cameo, and holograms have been part of the franchise since the very first film in 1977.
Plus, Palpatine has appeared as a hologram on several occasions, both in the prequel trilogy and the original trilogy.
It's also important to point out that actor Ian McDiarmid will be reprising the role. If his appearance at the recent Episode IX panel didn't make that clear, it was confirmed by J.J. Abrams shortly after.
This tells us that the Palpatine we'll see in the film will be the version we're used to seeing onscreen - mostly, at least. Last year, it was rumoured that Matt Smith will be playing young Palpatine in the film, and despite the actor recently denying his involvement, the fact that we now know the character will appear does open the door to the possibility of McDiarmid's older Palpatine driving the plot forward, with flashbacks to a younger Smith version peppered here and there.
However it plays out, it would be foolish to bring back The Emperor without having big plans for him.