Disney is focused on expanding its Star Wars universe with a multitude of movies, shows and literature. The franchise faithful, naturally, have strong opinions about which characters, and even Expanded Universe plots, deserve the spotlight. But while few (if any) are likely clamoring for a prequel chronicling the early years of Sheev Palpatine, one Reddit user believes actor Cameron Monaghan would be absolutely perfect for the role of the future Emperor.
The Shameless and Gotham actor, already a Star Wars veteran with his portrayal of Cal Kestis in Jedi: Fallen Order, would no doubt be able to embody the primary antagonist of the Skywalker Saga in his youth, but make no mistake: Star Wars: Palpatine would be the most unnecessary installment of the franchise to date. Longtime ans initially had a difficult time accepting the prequels, and a vocal contingent was hardly pleased with Palpatine's resurrection in The Rise of Skywalker.
As much as fans don't want this movie to happen, it's still interesting to delve into this idea. In the Reddit thread, fans argued that Monaghan would, in fact, play a great Palpatine. His performance as the Joker on Fox's Gotham proved his ability to embody a sinister character. Others argued that he looks nothing like the Emperor. In fact, the comparison photo used in the Reddit post depicts Cameron next to a fan art photo of James Franco as Young Palpatine.
While imagining these actors playing Sheev is a fun rabbit trail to go down, the idea of an actual movie is not. There's a number of reasons for this, the first being that the Star Wars slate is already extremely bloated. Then, there's the fact that Solo did not do as well as expected. Maybe in a world where Solo didn't under-perform, Lucasfilm would turn to a dreamy, twentysomething to fill the role of Young Palpatine, but history has shown that this just won't bode well for the studio or among the fans.
Additionally, Lucasfilm has already given fans quite enough background of Palpatine's character in the Star Wars prequels. In the original films, there wasn't much revealed about the creepy, wrinkly Sith Lord. It's possible it would make more sense to have an individual Palpatine movie if the prequels were never made; however, the prequels gave fans all the information they need about his history, how he rose to power and his transformation into Darth Sidious.
There is a multitude of other interesting storylines that Disney can pull from to make new content. The Star Wars universe is so vast that there's no need to return to characters that have already had their screen time. Audiences would be thrilled to see brand-new characters adventuring through a galaxy far, far away.