Ian McDiarmid will reprise his most famous role as Emperor Sheev Palpatine in the upcoming Star Wars Rebels feature-length television movie finale. He will bring his fearsome on-screen presence which we first saw in Return of the Jedi to the animated version of his character. However, McDiarmid was included in a 2004 re-release of the Empire Strikes Back.
The Emperor’s return was confirmed in the latest trailer for the Disney XD series. The series is slated to return on February 19, 2018 and continue for three weeks, finally ending on March 5, 2018.
Executive Producer Dave Filoni discussed with Entertainment Weekly why he want the trailer to look back on Ezra’s growth as a character, “I felt like it was important to give this last trailer an overall perspective of what this kid had come from and what he had been learning. I like that line that line that says, ‘You’ve never been like anyone else…'”
This will be the first time the Emperor truly reveals himself in Star Wars Rebels. He previously appeared in an unseen hologram speaking to Darth Vader in the second season premiere. In the premiere he was voiced by Sam Witwer, who also voiced the Emperor in the The Force Unleashed video game.
Star Wars Rebels will continue to release two episodes every Monday night back to back on Disney XD with a 90-minute finale.
Star Wars Rebels feature the voice cast of Freddie Prinze Jr. as Kanan, Vanessa Marshall as Hera, Steve Blum as Zeb, Taylor Gray as Ezra, Tiya Sircar as Sabine, Dee Bradley Baker as Captain Rex, David Oyelowo as Agent Kallus, Warwick David as Rukh, and Lars Mikkelsen as Grand Admiral Thrawn.