'Star Wars Episode 7' News Update: Emperor Paltpatine Ian McDiarmid Would Like To Reprise Role In Spin-offs

Add Ian McDiarmid to the list of former Star Wars veterans that would like to re-emerge in the upcoming films. The thespian, best known for his role as the evil Emperor Palpatine, recently stated during an interview with SciFi Now that he would love to return to the saga.

"Yes, I'm sort of interested in any future development he might have," McDiarmid he stated. "Unfortunately, as you probably know, he died at the end of Episode VI, Vader sent him to cosmic hell so he's not going to feature in any of the new Disney ones, I don't think."

However, he did note that Disney's new desire to create spin-off films of characters in the universe provided him with an opportunity to potentially return and cover new ground.  "On the other hand they've got lots of exciting ideas for spin-offs about separate characters and so on, and then there is the television series which George [Lucas] has talked about and decided to make into being for a number of years, and that takes place between Episodes III and IV when the Emperor is very much alive. So I think he probably does have a future," he asserted.

He also noted that spin-offs could potentially give new information on the evil emperor and how he became a Sith. "I thought Sith were just somehow born evil, that's what they were. But I've... with reference to a few things that George has said, I realized that that's not true," he revealed. "He might well have a tragic arc too, but I don't know. And even if he does I'm not sure we'll ever see it. But obviously, if we did and if it happened it would be something that would be completely fascinating to do and it would be like building a Shakespearean character."

Other former Star Wars actors that have expressed interest in starring in the upcoming films include Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Frank Oz, and Peter Mayhew among other. Harrison Ford is rumored to be involved (he even hinted at his return), but has yet to confirm interest in the project. Series creator George Lucas did confirm their involvement in "Episode 7" during a recent interview with Bloomberg Business week.