Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker‘s editor Maryann Brandon recently revealed that the film originally explained Emperor Palpatine’s return in more detail.
One of the biggest criticisms that Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker faced from fans and critics was how the film casually glossed over how Emperor Palpatine returned after he was thrown into an endless abyss in Return of the Jedi. Many found this plot point in the latest Star Wars film to be a stain on the legacy of Anakin Skywalker who returned to the light side by making the ultimate sacrifice to kill his master.
Speaking with Huffington Post, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker revealed that the film originally gave audiences more information as to why Emperor Palpatine was back in the Star Wars universe. She stated that the opening scenes of The Rise of Skywalker with Emperor Palpatine were tricky in terms of how much backstory they wanted to explain, as well as what they wanted to show and what he wanted. She continued by discussing the balance of showing less and how it added more weight.
“It was kind of a delicate balance and went back and forth a lot about how much we wanted to reveal. Some scenes changed quite a bit, the way that we wanted to present it to the audience. In the end, we ended up showing a lot less of it than we started with.”
So there certainly was an earlier cut of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker that had more information on Palpatine but that was left behind as she believed that the film was then going “off topic”. Brandon continued by discussing how giving more information on Palpatine’s return would have cluttered the film.
“There was so much information in the film and so many characters that we wanted to have an audience concentrate on. I think we felt we didn’t want to clutter the film up with things you didn’t need to know.”
While Brandon is certainly correct by stating that giving Emperor Palpatine’s return more credence would have cluttered the film, it also would have allowed more fans to enjoy Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Regardless, it’s an artistic choice that has been made, and Brandon is confident in her work which is all that matters. However, Brandon confirming that there’s more information on Palpatine’s return means that hopefully we’ll one day find out exactly why he returned in The Rise of Skywalker. For now, we’ll just have to speculate!
What are your thoughts on Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’s theatrical cut leaving out the reason as to why Emperor Palpatine returned? Comment below and let us know!
You can check out synopsis for the latest film in the Star Wars saga below:
Lucasfilm and director J.J. Abrams join forces once again to take viewers on an epic journey to a galaxy far, far away with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the riveting conclusion of the seminal Skywalker saga, where new legends will be born and the final battle for freedom is yet to come.
Directed by J. J. Abrams and co-written with Chris Terrio, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker stars Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Joonas Suotamo, Billie Lourd, Naomi Ackie, Richard E. Grant, Keri Russell, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Ian McDiarmid, and Billy Dee Williams. Carrie Fisher also appears as General Leia Organa through the use of previously unreleased footage shot for previous Star Wars films.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is now playing in theaters.
Source: Huffington Post
