In a galaxy not too far away, Star Wars fans are cautiously awaiting a new film trilogy. Back in April, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy let the Loth-cat out of the bag! Three brand new films are on their way featuring more narrative surrounding our beloved Rey Palpat…I mean Skywalker (Daisy Ridley). There are few details floating around outside of pure speculation regarding what the new films will be about. We only know for certain that they’re coming. Fans remain ready to have their hearts broken again as most Star Wars die-hards were extremely unhappy with Disney’s take on the previous sequels. And depending on the latest rumors they may or may not have further justification to dislike the Star Wars products Disney has sent to the big screen.
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Many different fansites, such as CPR.com, are now reporting that Disney is potentially eyeing Idris Elba to play an unknown role in the upcoming story, potentially named Star Wars: Will of the Force. Fandom.com even has a wiki page dedicated to this potential role, claiming that Elba will be cast as an ‘unnamed Calrissian family member.’ Most other sites list that Elba will be cast as the newest Star Wars Darkside user…enemy to Rey.
Elba has had a decent film career, starring alongside Chris Hemsworth as Heimdall in the Thor franchise and two Avengers films. Other works attributed to Elba include Finding Dory, Zootopia, The Jungle Book (2016), and NBC’s hit sitcom The Office. The actor is known relatively well and has been nominated for many Academy Awards. Although his 2022 film The Beast doesn’t have stellar reviews, it’s a great example of the flexibility Elba has.
But is he flexible enough to follow up iconic Star Wars villains like Darth Vader, Darth Maul, Emporer Palpatine (Rey’s grandpappy), and Kylo Ren? That remains to be seen, but Star Wars fans are not hopeful or optimistic.
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Star Wars fans are notoriously difficult to please, so who knows how this could go if it turns out to be true. But based on the last three films, there’s no place to go but up! It seems fans of the space opera are only satisfied with rerunning the same old stories and characters, but hey, maybe Jar Jar Binks will return (probably not). If the news holds up, I’m certain Elba could do a fantastic job with the role, assuming the script and direction allow him to do so. Just think Charles from The Office with lightsabers.
