"Somehow, Palpatine returned." This iconic Star Wars line has become the ultimate meme, widely used to mock the Emperor's controversial comeback in The Rise of Skywalker. Many fans were unimpressed by Palpatine's clone-assisted resurrection following his apparent demise in the beloved Return of the Jedi. But what was the opinion of Ian McDiarmid, the actor who has portrayed Palpatine/The Emperor for over four decades, on the fan criticism?
In a Variety interview celebrating the theatrical re-release of Revenge of the Sith (a reissue that has proven massively successful at the box office), McDiarmid dismissed the backlash, stating that "both mine and Palpatine's logic was completely sound."
"It seemed entirely plausible that Palpatine would have a backup plan," he explained. "Despite being severely injured, he would find a way to pull himself together in some form. Discovering I had a sort of astral wheelchair made it even better. I had a team of four guys pushing me around the studio; it was an absolute blast. Daisy Ridley was more concerned about that than anything else. We also had to design a new makeup look that was even more disturbing than the last one."
McDiarmid specifically addressed the criticism of the Emperor's return: "There's always going to be some controversy, isn't there?" he remarked. "I don't read that material and I'm not active online, so I only hear about it if someone brings it up. I anticipated there might be some debate about resurrecting him. But as I mentioned, our reasoning was perfectly logical. This was a man who had been grievously wounded and considered the possibility, so he needed a contingency plan. I loved the concept of him returning with even greater power than before. Of course, this time he had to be completely eliminated. So I believe he's finally gone."
The Rise of Skywalker offers a vague explanation for Palpatine's dramatic return. When Kylo Ren discovers him early in the film, Emperor Palpatine appears to be a reanimated corpse. This suggests he did not actually survive his fall at the end of Return of the Jedi.
However, his death didn't truly stop him or even slow him down. As McDiarmind noted, Palpatine had prepared for such an eventuality. In the film's ambiguous account of his return, Sheev delivers his classic line from Revenge of the Sith during his villainous speech to Kylo Ren, outlining his elaborate scheme: "The Dark Side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be... unnatural."
So, the answer is ancient Sith magic. That's how he managed it.
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It appears unlikely that the core Star Wars fanbase will ever fully accept Palpatine's return in The Rise of Skywalker, and many would prefer to ignore it entirely. It will be intriguing to see whether future Star Wars films follow suit. In November, reports indicated that Daisy Ridley's character, Rey Skywalker, is set to appear in "several" upcoming Star Wars films, as she is considered the franchise's "most valuable cinematic asset."
Ridley is already confirmed to return in Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy's sequel to The Rise of Skywalker. The story will follow Rey as she works to reestablish the Jedi Order approximately 15 years after the events of that film.
