I had read rumors about George Lucas going back and making further enhancements to the movies as well as adding elements that make them consistent with the new prequel episodes. Probably the most talked about rumor was the insertion of Ian McDiarmid as the Emperor Palpatine.
Back in 1977, when Star Wars was first released, the Emperor was only referred to but not actually shown. In Empire 1980, we finally got to see the Emperor through a holographic transmission to Darth Vader. This Emperor was played by an old woman with monkey eyes voiced by Clive Revill.
In Return of the Jedi we get to see Palpatine in person. Ian McDiarmid, however, was cast for the role as the old wrinkly sinister Emperor. McDiarmid, who was in his 30′s at the time, with the help of makeup and his awesome talent, played the role superbly. This actor inconsistency was pretty minor and probably wasn’t a big deal at the time. After all, the Clive Revill Palpatine in Empire was only on screen for one short scene plus the holographic appearance distorted his appearance.
Fast-forward to 1999′s Star Wars: Episode I ? The Phantom Menace and we see a much younger Palpatine, again played by McDiarmid. At this point Palpatine is an ambitious Senator clawing his way to power. McDiarmid followed up by playing Palpatine in 2002′s Episode II ? The Phantom Menace and 2005′s Episode III ? Revenge of the Sith . As a result we are left with a more glaring consistency problem with the Revill Emperor really standing out.
The internet rumor mill frequently made mention of McDiarmid reprising his role as the old Emperor Palpatine replacing Clive Revill’s Palpatine for Episode V. Rumors are rumors, but the possibility of this being done was something I thought would be great to see.
As soon as I got back to my house from Best Buy I stuck The Empire Strikes Back in my DVD player and went straight to the rumored McDiarmid scene and to my excitement, there he was…Ian McDiarmid as Palpatine.
For a nice visual side-by-side comparison of the 1997 version and the 2004 version, click here.