Star Wars: Episode VII refused to let any cats out of the bag at last weekend's D23 festival, but rumour has it that Ian McDiarmid might be another old face set for a return.
Jedi News reports that McDiarmid is set to make an appearance, possibly as a cloned version of the evil Emperor Palpatine, last seen (in sequence, anyway) perishing at the end of Episode VI .
He's not the only former villain keen on a return, with Ray Park talking up a potential do-over as crimson-faced badass Darth Maul.
"I’ve said that I would play anything to do with Star Wars ,” says Park to Flicks And The City . “But really, deep down, I would love to come back as Darth Maul - that’s what I want to do."
"I would go crazy, go mental, lock myself in a cabin, you know. Do the whole ‘method’ for two or three months, spear-fishing and stuff, just to play the character again."
The character met a sticky end at the end of Episode I , but was resurrected in The Clone Wars , so we guess it's not impossible... Star Wars: Episode VII will open in 2015.