As Resistance fighter Poe Dameron, Oscar Isaac had the unenviable job of delivering the line “Somehow, Palpatine returned” in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker—a desperate handwave so J.J. Abrams’ sequel trilogy-capper could have a familiar villain quickly added to the story. In the years since the movie’s release, it’s become shorthand for lazy plot contrivances, memed and mocked into oblivion. The fact that it followed an opening crawl that referenced a Fortnite event made it even worse.
In a recent episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Isaac reflected on delivering the line and revealed that it was written later, during the film’s reshoots.
“We had to do reshoots… those were like those surgical strikes where you come in and [everyone] is scrambling trying to get going… I think that had been a new addition at the end,” he said. “There was a lot of movement and flux throughout that whole thing.”
Isaac said he had no idea that “Somehow, Palpatine returned” would have the cultural impact it did, adding, “Had you asked me if at that moment I thought that was going to be the line, I wouldn’t have known. But hey man, I committed to the exasperation, that’s for sure.”
