Ian McDiarmid Doesn’t Believe Palpatine Is Actually Dead, and Honestly, Neither Do We
Few characters in cinematic history have proven harder to kill than Emperor Palpatine. Darth Vader threw him down a reactor shaft in 1983’s ‘Return of the Jedi,’ but that didn’t stop the character from cheating death in multiple pieces of media. Palpatine returned in the 1991 comic ‘Dark Empire,’ having transferred his essence into a clone body, with Luke and Leia defeating him once more before he returned again in ‘Dark Empire II’ and was ultimately brought down in ‘Empire’s End.’ For a villain who invented escape plans like a hobby, the pattern of dying and returning is practically a character trait.
For a time it looked like the character would at least stay dead in the films, until Lucasfilm brought him back for the 2019 film ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.’ By the end of that film, Palpatine seemingly died for good after Rey deflected his own Force lightning back at him. McDiarmid himself had previously revealed that an original version of the script included a scene where Palpatine was explicitly referred to as a clone, with the line “More than a clone. Less than a man,” which was ultimately cut from the finished film.
Now, the man behind the Emperor is casting fresh doubt on whether the dark side’s most enduring architect is truly finished. During a panel at Spacecon, held in San Antonio, Ian McDiarmid admitted outright that he was surprised by Palpatine’s return in ‘The Rise of Skywalker,’ saying, “I had no idea that I wasn’t dead. So, it’s been a journey. But I think I’m dead now, but don’t quote me.” Then, in classic Sith Lord fashion, he contradicted himself entirely. Later in the same panel, McDiarmid shifted his position while pondering the Emperor’s legacy and stated plainly, “I don’t believe he’s dead.”
The remarks set off an immediate wave of discussion across the Star Wars fan community, and it is not difficult to see why. McDiarmid had previously addressed the backlash surrounding Palpatine’s controversial return, telling Variety, “I thought there might be a bit of a fuss about bringing him back. But mine and Palpatine’s logic was entirely reasonable. This man who was horribly maimed thought maybe one day it might happen to him, and we’ve got to have a plan B.” The idea of a plan B has taken on a whole new dimension now that the actor himself is openly questioning whether the character’s story has reached its final chapter.
McDiarmid has long taken pride in the scope of Palpatine’s reach across the saga, noting that every single evil act across the entire Star Wars franchise is either directly or indirectly tied back to that character. With several new Star Wars projects actively in development at Lucasfilm, and no shortage of eras to explore, the Emperor’s shadow is one that has a way of falling across any corner of the galaxy far, far away. As Popverse noted, if Oscar Isaac were to deliver that iconic Poe Dameron line one more time, it would not be entirely out of the question.
Whether McDiarmid’s comments reflect genuine insider knowledge, wishful thinking, or simply the kind of cryptic misdirection Palpatine himself would approve of remains to be seen. What is clear is that for a character whose deaths keep failing to stick, the question of his return feels less like fan fantasy and more like an inevitability. Do you think ‘The Rise of Skywalker’ truly marked the end of Palpatine, or is McDiarmid right to keep the door open?
