Star Wars fans got a glimpse of what Rey Skywalker would look like if she was a sith in Star Wars: Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker. Not to mention, the revelation that she was a descendant of Emperor Palpatine at the film’s climax. Throughout the film, she was tested to see if she would surrender to the dark side. Although this female protagonist was strong enough to defeat Palpatine, some were curious to see what if Rey did become Empress Palpatine.
A cosplayer known as @zoogirlq shared on Instagram how the female Jedi would appear if she did accept the dark side of the force. The photo has the new sith lord wearing a black and red outfit, with a caption that reads “Don’t be afraid of who you are”. The photo received over 24k likes and made its way to the r/StarWars subreddit.
Fans who saw the cosplay were in awe of how good it was that a handful of them changed their opinion about the modern sequel trilogy. Some believed that the sequel trilogy would have improved significantly if they gave viewers Empress Palpatine.
Since Rise of Skywalker is canon, fans believe a “Star Wars version” of Marvel’s What if…? is needed. Or a series to expand on the characters we all know and love but with alternate storylines. Something similar already exists in the Star Wars franchise with the Star Wars Infinite graphic novels, where it shared an alternate ending of Star Wars: A New Hope. Lucasfilms, listen to the fans and give us this alternate ending!
Star Wars: Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker was released on Dec. 2019 and was the final part of the sequel trilogy. The film earned over $1 billion at the box office as it performed well with audiences but received mixed reviews from critics. And although the canonical concept of ‘Dark Rey’ was short, you could relive that moment as the film, alongside the rest of the Star Wars trilogy, are available on Disney Plus.