Star Wars - Palpatine's Return was Planned Before The Last Jedi
One of the key plot twists, for which the latest part of Star Wars was criticised, was planned back in 2017. At least that's what the creators claim and show a concept art sketch to prove it.
For most Star Wars fans, the very beginning of Rise of Skywalker, in which the moving golden subtitles announced the return of Emperor Palpatine - one of the series' leading antagonists, was nigh incomprehensible. The theme became the subject of fierce criticism from the audience, as it seemed to be shoehorned into the film. According to the creators, the truth is completely different.
Kathleen Kennedy, the producer of the new Star Wars, has been claiming for some time that the Emperor's return was planned for several years. This was denied by the would-be director of the ninth part, Colin Trevorrow. In the end, however, there was some kind of evidence to support Kennedy's words. It is a concept art sketch by Kevin Jenkins, one of the designers of the series.
The credibility of the picture was confirmed by Lucasfilm's head of art, Phil Szostak. He pointed out that the presented sketch of Palpatine dates back to November 1, 2017, and the first drawing of this version of the character dates back to October 11, 2017. This means that the idea appeared even before the premiere of Rian Johnson's The Last Jedi.
But there are a lot of doubts. Since the director of the eighth part kept in touch with the producers, did he not know about their plans to bring the Emperor back to life? And if he knew, why didn't he include in his film any clues that would indicate the return of the antagonist? The truth will probably never be known. But that doesn't change the fact that the filmmakers keep defend from fan accusations of the inconsistency of Abrams and Johnson's trilogy and aren't going to change their tune anytime soon.
