Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker's Domhnall Gleeson has mixed feelings about General Hux's fate

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Warning: this story contains Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker spoilers

(Image credit: Disney/LucasFilm)

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker 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, 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:

Jack Shepherd
Jack Shepherd
Freelance Journalist

Jack Shepherd is the former Senior Entertainment Editor of GamesRadar. Jack used to work at The Independent as a general culture writer before specializing in TV and film for the likes of GR+, Total Film, SFX, and others. You can now find Jack working as a freelance journalist and editor.