Ian McDiarmid Confirms Next Star Wars Appearance

Like it or not, Ian McDiarmid is back for Star Wars. Though we may have seen his second death in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, it looks like the old Emperor is going to be making another appearance in the franchise soon.

During a panel at Imperial Commissary Collectors Convention (via StarWarsNewsNet), McDiarmid confirms that he’s going to be appearing in a Disney+ Star Wars show. He says:

“There’s a certain show coming soon set right around the time I may have considered to be very active. Whether or not you will see my physical body, I cannot comment on. But you will certainly feel my presence”

While some fans are pretty sure that he means Obi-Wan Kenobi, some fans forget that there is also the upcoming Andor series in which the Emperor is still pretty much alive and well. We don’t expect him to have the most active role in the series, but maybe they can keep planting references to his survival on Exegol—maybe we can even see the appearance of one Supreme Leader Snoke, if they really wanted to lean in on the concept.

Though a lot of people didn’t like how Palpatine was brought back for the Sequel Trilogy, this is kind of the card that Star Wars fans have been dealt, and there’s really nothing we can do about any of it. For now, I think the best thing they can do with the character is just explain exactly how he survived and what story decisions led to him being able to do what he did on TROS.

We don’t know exactly when Palpatine returns, but fans will be on the lookout for him in Obi-Wan Kenobi which premieres on May 27 on Disney+.