Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Theater Listing Raises Questions About Palpatine

Tickets for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker officially went on sale this week, giving fans their first chance to see the final chapter of the Skywalker Saga. It's hard to deny that there are still quite a lot of questions surrounding the upcoming film -- and a listing for tickets has certainly added fuel to the fire. A screenshot from the film on Fandango recently surfaced online, which showcased the synopsis and other pertinent info for the upcoming film. This particular listing shows Matt Smith - whose involvement in the film had previously been in a state of flux - among the cast. That fact has sparked up quite a lot of speculation -- especially among those who think that Smith could potentially be playing a younger version of Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid).

Granted, there's a chance that this particular listing is just using an older bit of information, as Smith's name was scrubbed from Star Wars' website this past May. But combined with rumors of Smith's role in the film -- and the fact that McDiarmid isn't listed among the cast - it's certainly interesting.

Palpatine's return in the film -- whether portrayed by McDiarmid, Smith, or otherwise - has reportedly been in the works for quite some time, and will hopefully play an interesting role in how the entire saga's storyline wraps up.

"This has been in the blueprint for a long time," Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy shared earlier this year. "We had not landed on exactly how we might do that, but yes."

"Some people feel like we shouldn't revisit the idea of Palatine, and I completely understand that," director J.J. Abrams said in a previous interview. "But if you're looking at the nine films as one story, I don't know many books where the last few chapters have nothing to do with those that have come before. If you look at the first eight films, all the set-ups of what we're in IX are there in plain view."

Do you want Matt Smith to play Palpatine in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker arrives in theaters on December 20th.