From the very first The Rise of Skywalker trailer released, the return of Emperor Palpatine has already been teased. Since then, the teasers that followed only included the Sith Lord's voice, with his appearance kept under wraps. The movie has been out for almost a month now, so fans finally got to see the Emperor's much scarier look. And now, a new still from the Skywalker Saga's final installment officially gets released.
The Star Wars official website recently updated its Data Bank which includes a ton of new information and stills, including Emperor Palpatine's. The photo is quite dark, which isn't surprising, and it shows the Sith Lord at his throne room at Exegol. His face isn't seen clearly in the still but the machine that keeps him "alive" and "carries" him around is very much visible.
Star Wars fans were in awe with how they managed to make the Emperor much scarier than he was in the original trilogy. His appearance being kept as a secret all throughout the movie's promotion really paid off since most fans really liked how the character looked in the film. Kylo Ren and Rey didn't seem to get fazed by him, but fans surely got creeped out with the Emperor.
In a previous interview, Creature And Special Make-up Effects Creative Superior Neal Scanlan revealed that although they did "some digital augmentation" for other shots, they mostly "hung onto" Ian McDiarmid's "fantastic" performance.
What are your thoughts on Palpatine's return in Episode IX? Tell us in the comments below!
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is now showing.
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Star Wars: Episode IX