More Star Wars Episode 7 Villain Rumors Revealed

 Don't freak out, this image has NOTHING to do with the new Star Wars Episode 7 villain rumor

A couple weeks back, a hot rumor hit the internet explaining how the Star Wars Episode 7 villain could rewrite Star Wars franchise history. Well a new report adds more heat to the fire. Learn more about the new Star Wars Episode VII villain rumor after the jump.

Warning: Possible spoilers obviously ahead.LatinoReview has now heard from new new independent sources that while Star Wars Episode VII will feature a bunch of new villains, the puppet-master behind everything is someone we already know from the previous Star Wars films: Emperor Palpatine. According to Kelvin's sources, the Emperor will appear in both Star Wars Episode VII and Star Wars Episode VIII:

A lot can happen during the fall of an Empire, and maybe the moments we took to see our heroes party with the Ewoks was a forced perspective on something much more sinister. We all know that Lando blew up the second Death Star in the Millennium Falcon, and we know Luke had enough time to carry his dying father to a shuttle bay and unmask him. We also know, from Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back, that when you throw someone (or in Luke's case, himself) down the tubes of a large space station, you might not necessarily die.

Devin at BAD, who broke a lot of the recent Star Wars Episode VII rumors, has added that his sources have also told him that the Emperor is back in the new film, although he doesn't know in what capacity — and that seems to be something no one can agree on.

This isn't the first time we've heard this rumor. In fact, this isn't the first time LatinoReview has broken this story. In April 2013, the same site reported that Emperor Palpatine would return as a Force Ghost. According to the earlier report:

Sith Lords learned similar techniques, which in some cases allowed them to physically interact with their environment.

We're not sure if thats still the plan, as Kelvin's new report seems to insinuate that Palpatine may have survived after all. That earlier report also claimed that "Palpatine had a new apprentice before he got killed." So this is all just speculation at this point.

I'm not sure if that exactly lines up with the recent Star Wars Episode VII villain rumors, which claimed that the villains in the new film would be the Inquisitors, (the group which supposedly kidnapped Luke Skywalker and have held the Jedi captive:

"The Inquisitors are defenders of the Sith Order and they've been around for a long time. Just how long is what turns Episode VII's story on it's head."

That report also claimed we'd see a flashback which would show a Pre-Jedi Darth Vader in control of the Inquisitors. This flashback sequence could also be the place where we see the Emperor.

So how do the two reports (April 2013 and August 2014) mesh together? I would say not at all. But we also need to remember that the script has changed a lot since Lawrence Kasdan was brought in, so we might be looking at two different tidbits from completely different drafts.

Scottish actor Ian McDiarmid who played Senator/Emperor Palpatine in the earlier Star Wars films has been very vocal in denying that he would be part of the new sequels. During an appearance at Fan Expo Canada in August 2013, Ian McDiarmid addressed the initial rumors:

"Well, there's so many rumors. I like you, know nothing, because there are no facts yet. We know that John Williams is doing the music. Kathleen Kennedy announced that when we were all in Essen, but she and everyone else is unable to say anything else at the moment, because I understand they're still working on the script. There's been all sorts of rumors. No conversations have been had, and no deals have been struck. And anyway, I'm dead...but I could be resurrected. Yes, I've heard of ghosts, I've heard of clones. There's all sorts of possibilities. But until I get that phone call, like the one I had before, I won't believe I'm in it. And I think I won't be working for it, because it's a whole new world now that I think is going to be invented. There might be some old favorites in it, but I should imagine it's about the adventures of the descendents of the first characters and new villains that no one except George has ever imagined. And I hope it is, because the great thing about Disney is that it will continue in a new form with new people and be reinvented, just like all great works of art are sooner or later."

But again, that was over a year ago. How about something more recent? McDiarmid made the following statement at the London Film and Comic-Con in July 2014:

I'm definitely not in [Episode VII]. As you know, he's dead by then! I know, we believe in reincarnation, and holograms... But you know, they are going to take many twists on the story as the years go on, and I guess they may go back to a time – I've got no clue, I'm speaking off the top of my head – when the Emperor ran the universe. And I don't want anyone else to play him, do I?"

You can even watch McDiarmid say so in the video embedded above. But Latino Review insists that the Emperor will be in the movie but not be played by Ian McDarmid. So how can the Emperor be in the movie if McDiarmid isn't? Andy Serkis and his performance capture company The Imaginarium Studios are working on the film, so its possible that he could be recreated in the computer somehow.

Honestly, if they brought back the Emperor I wouldn't mind, as long as they make his appearance seem plausible. For me, to be Episode VII in the series, the story needs to be a continuation of the saga and not a completely new chapter. Thats why I've always insisted that the Skywalker saga must follow the Skywalkers in this big space war. By that I don't mean that the movies need to stay with Luke, but I believe they should stay with him and his bloodline. Its fine to have the spinoffs turn their focus to other characters in this galaxy far far away, but its important to make Episode 7 a continuation of not only the Skywalker saga, but also that of the Emperor and Darth Vader's legacy. So to bring Emperor back in some way and have the same villain masterminding  the entire saga is a nice way to keep the through-line connected — if they can make it believable and interesting.