Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (opens in new tab) was, to put it lightly, controversial. The final instalment in the Skywalker saga has been derided for various reasons – not explaining Palpatine's return thoroughly, making Rey a someone, Rose Tico's diminished role – and now Domhnall Gleeson has revealed his mixed feelings towards his own character's fate.
Spoilers for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker ahead!
Speaking to IndieWire (opens in new tab), the actor revealed that Hux's death at the hands of General Pryde, played by Richard E. Grant, was something of a disappointment – especially because the villainous Hux had only just been revealed to be working with the Resistance to get revenge against Kylo Ren.
"It would’ve been nice to stick around a little bit longer, for sure," Gleeson said. "It would’ve been nice to see the spy thing play out a little bit, but J.J. [Abrams] knows what he’s doing, and I heard a kind of gasp in the cinema when it happened, so I guess he was right."
Luckily, Gleeson is a fan of Grant's work, and so dying to the esteemed actor – best known for his roles in Withnail and I and Can You Ever Forgive Me? – wasn't all too bad. "I’ve been a fan of Richard’s work for a very, very, very long time," he said. "So if you’re bowing out to anybody, there are a lot of worse people to bow out to."
Gleeson added that he supports director J.J. Abrams' decision to rein Rise of Skywalker into a slightly shorter movie than many expected. "The film is what the film needed to be, I think," he said. "There’s always stuff that you would like to see more of, but you can’t have a 17-hour film, I’ve been told. Apparently that’s not allowed, so I was happy with what was there."
The actor will next appear in the HBO comedy/thriller Run, which has been executive produced by Fleabag's Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Meanwhile, for more on Star Wars, check out our pieces on:
- The best Star Wars movies (opens in new tab), ranked
- How to watch all the Star Wars movies in order (opens in new tab)
- What to know about The Mandalorian season 2 (opens in new tab)
- Every upcoming Star Wars movie (opens in new tab)
