Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was clearly planned as a fan-pleasing finale, but proved instead to be one of the most divisive instalments of the Skywalker Saga yet. While the initial decision to bring back Emperor Palpatine was praised, the execution was undeniably flawed, and six months on, the long list of unanswered questions remains...well, just as long!
Over the weekend, Lucasfilm concept artist Kevin Jenkins shared a very early design of how he imagined Emperor Palpatine would look once he was back among the living, and it's very similar to what ended up on screen.
It's a little more sinister in some respects as we see that Palpatine appears to have robotic arms, and a long billowing cloak which leaves what's beneath up to the imagination. It also seems like a series of wires are being fed directly into the villain in order to keep him alive.
It remains an unusual creative decision on J.J. Abrams' part to head down this direction, but one that likely would have worked a little better had he explained more about how Palpatine managed to survive.
Check out the artwork below: