Star Wars: Natalie Portman Admits She's Open to Franchise Return
When Disney first purchased Lucasfilm and started developing projects for the galaxy far, far away, there was an embrace of new avenues of Star Wars storytelling, while more recent years have seen the franchise embrace lesser-explored areas of the mythology. While Natalie Portman's Padmé Amidala is a beloved component of the prequel trilogy, she recently admitted she would be open to a potential return to the franchise, yet also confirmed that no one had spoken to her about such an opportunity. Understandably, with Padmé dying in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, that could complicate some storytelling avenues, but perhaps by expressing her openness, it could result in such projects being explored.
During a video for GQ in which Portman replied to internet questions about returning to Star Wars, Portman expressed, "I have no information on this. No one has ever asked me to return, but I'm open to it."
It will likely come as a surprise to many fans that Portman claims she hasn't been asked to return, given how many other members of the prequel trilogy have been asked about possible returns ever since those films were released. Just last year, fans were given the limited series Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi, which not only saw prequel star Ewan McGregor return as the titular Jedi master and Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker, but also featured a cameo from Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn.
Even though Anakin definitively killed Padmé in Revenge of the Sith, there is perhaps a much more exciting storytelling opportunity on the horizon that could not only see Portman return to the franchise but also expand upon the narrative in an exciting way.
As established in the prequel trilogy, Padmé had a number of handmaidens that were not only her closest confidants, but also served as decoys in select situations. In the current timeline of Star Wars comics, Darth Vader has enlisted handmaiden Sabé under his wing, with these comics taking place between the events of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. Given the physical similarities between Padmé and her handmaidens, there could be the chance to explain an identical appearance to Padmé if a live-action project embraced the adventures of the handmaidens.
Stay tuned for updates on the future of the Star Wars franchise.
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