Ask Darth Maul !
Does anyone else think bringing Palpatine back is cheap fanservice?
- Thread starter August Franklin
- Start date
The problem lies in how neatly RotJ tied everything up. The comics and novels have a little bit more leeway with bringing characters back to life, but in a movie, where not everyone is familiar with all the various EU is where it's difficult to pass off.
The Maul cameo at the end of Solo had a lot of people confused, because their last image of him was of him being cut in half and falling down a reactor shaft. Most had no idea of his involvement in the Clone Wars, or Rebels.
I have already been schooled on how long that elevator/reactor shaft is from the sphere of the Death Star to Palps throne room, apparently he had enough time to..do something..it reminds me of that Robot Chicken segment of Sheev falling down the pit, so maybe that's what really happened.
The Maul cameo at the end of Solo had a lot of people confused, because their last image of him was of him being cut in half and falling down a reactor shaft. Most had no idea of his involvement in the Clone Wars, or Rebels.
I have already been schooled on how long that elevator/reactor shaft is from the sphere of the Death Star to Palps throne room, apparently he had enough time to..do something..it reminds me of that Robot Chicken segment of Sheev falling down the pit, so maybe that's what really happened.
He caught a passing speeder.. just like Mace Windu.. 
Spock would tend to disagree with you in the coming back to life in a movie department.
Seriously though, I agree that ROTJ tied everything up neatly, but there is so much of the Sith that was left pretty mysterious. What do they want revenge for? What does immortality mean for them? How can that be acheived? Granted, all of that was in the prequels, but whereas ROTJ did tie off the OT neatly, the prequels left a lot of aspects with the Sith a mess. But I think that can be explained by: In 1983, Lucas might have thought he might come back to the GFFA someday, but in case he didn't, he knew he had to tie up the loose ends. In 2005, Lucas figured that he might get back to it, sooner rather than later, or he might have already been having thoughts about selling LFL at that time and wanted to leave some options. I mean, even from some of the very early outlines of Star Wars as a saga suggested that Luke would meet the Emperor in IX. (I can't find a link to it now, but I know it was outlined in a Gary Kurtz interview and in the book Skywalking. EDIT: Found it!) What if who we saw in ROTJ wasn't Palpatine? Perhaps that was the clone? Or a Force-sensitive double? For someone who had a plan through all of the first six movies and could foresee stuff, being that arrogant and going to oversee the construction of the Death Star II seems a little reckless for Palps.
That was definitely a SMH moment in the theater for me. And I had watched Clone Wars and Rebels.
I have already been schooled on how long that elevator/reactor shaft is from the sphere of the Death Star to Palps throne room, apparently he had enough time to..do something..it reminds me of that Robot Chicken segment of Sheev falling down the pit, so maybe that's what really happened.
Loved that sketch!
I remember reading years ago that the OT would be about Luke confronting Vader, and the second trilogy would involve someone dealing with the Emperor. Lucas apparently said I'm done, and wrapped it up in RotJ. But the ST has been using some recycled ideas from some old ideas that Lucas apparently had.
The big question I have is what was Snoke? Just a puppet or placeholder until Palpatine could make his play?
The big question I have is what was Snoke? Just a puppet or placeholder until Palpatine could make his play?
Apparently Palpatine has a hidden Sith fleet, and troopers in the unknown regions, just kicking around waiting to do some work. That is some pretty impressive dedication to be chilling for 30 years.
I hated it when the Star Wars EU brought Captain Janeway back from the dead. The Star Trek novels would never have done that.
I thought Dark Empire was a good comic series at the time, admittedly I didn't care much for bringing back Palpatine, but they hit the right marks by bringing Sheev and Boba Fett back. Strangely enough that old comic series is just as controversial now among fans as it was then, I remember people really hating on it during it's initial release on usenet. Fandom has always been that way I suppose.
Just wondering if Snoke dying messed up JJ's plans a bit so he had to go another route, maybe he didn't think Kylo could handle being the Supreme Leader. I was actually interested in seeing Kylo in that capacity, and hopefully he just isn't doing Sheev's bidding the whole time.
Just wondering if Snoke dying messed up JJ's plans a bit so he had to go another route, maybe he didn't think Kylo could handle being the Supreme Leader. I was actually interested in seeing Kylo in that capacity, and hopefully he just isn't doing Sheev's bidding the whole time.
Fans enjoyed the last 2 films.
You really can't take a joke can you?
Every time I catch a glimpse of your av in a corner of my eye, I see Obelix. Every. Single. Time.
Is it fan service? Absolutely.
Do I care? Absolutely not.
Do I care? Absolutely not.
Maybe it'll just end up being a hologram recording or something that they stumble across on the Death Star. In the Shattered Emipire they introduce a special messenger droid, with a clear head that projects an holographic message from Palpatine inside of it, it could just be one of those.
To the original poster's question, I hate to say it because Palpatine is my favorite Star Wars character, but I felt nothing when I heard his laughter at the end of the Episode IX teaser and all the stuff that's come out sense-whether rumored or not-hasn't elicited any positive feelings, just an impending since of dread that they will screw up his character like they have so many of the other OT characters.
As much as I love Palpatine and like the idea that Ian McDiarmid would have a role in every saga series, I wish they would just have resurrected Snoke at this point and fleshed out that character more. I think he's one of the great missed opportunities.
For the most part I don't have a problem with 'fan service' because entertainment should be in the business of pleasing fans, new fans, or potential fans, but this Palpatine move does come off as desperate pandering because up to this point Disney Star Wars has shown little interest in pleasing 'old' fans and if anything, have shown a disdain for those fans. But now that they realize there were consequences to that high-handed behavior they are trying to get many of the old fans back. We'll see if it works. But I think it will take more than pulling Palpatine out of the wreckage of the Death Star.
As much as I love Palpatine and like the idea that Ian McDiarmid would have a role in every saga series, I wish they would just have resurrected Snoke at this point and fleshed out that character more. I think he's one of the great missed opportunities.
For the most part I don't have a problem with 'fan service' because entertainment should be in the business of pleasing fans, new fans, or potential fans, but this Palpatine move does come off as desperate pandering because up to this point Disney Star Wars has shown little interest in pleasing 'old' fans and if anything, have shown a disdain for those fans. But now that they realize there were consequences to that high-handed behavior they are trying to get many of the old fans back. We'll see if it works. But I think it will take more than pulling Palpatine out of the wreckage of the Death Star.
Before the rumors started swirling I was wondering if Ren would just find Palpatine's Sith holocron. I would be fine with that. It still is him, without being him in a physical sense. You get his essence. The Sentinel concept was also very cool and I would be fine with that as well.
Sidenote: I've seen some discussion about Dark Empire here, and I've read and enjoyed the trilogy (though I do think Empire's End was a step down in storytelling and artwork). I would've been fine with them adapting Dark Empire, especially if it had been Episode VII. As for the comic itself, I enjoyed the first two graphic novels a lot. One of the quibbles I remember was that I didn't feel they really showed Luke doing much dark side stuff. I think they could've done more to sell us, and Palpatine, on the idea that he really had turned to the dark side.
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If they did go the Sentinel route they could have even had McDiarmid do it as a motion capture performance.
I think it will be fine. And probably not nearly as bad as predicted.
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