Re: Star Wars Episode VII
Yeah, I've been following these rumors too. Some of my thoughts...
While I'm not totally sold yet, I don't have a huge problem with Palpatine returning, particularly as a ghost, and I've always enjoyed Ian McDiarmid's performances in the role. While a part of me wouldn't mind seeing an all new "big bad guy", I do like the idea that Palpatine is back since he has been the "big bad guy" in all six previous movies. He could be the same common denominator that really ties all 9 movies together and I do like that aspect. Before being pared down, Palpatine was originally supposed to be in the last trilogy anyways, with only Vader dying in the 6th movie.
Apparently George had stated years ago that the Emperor (or maybe the Sith in general?) was technically capable of being a "Force Ghost" and that notion wasn't an exclusively Jedi thing. George pretty much botched the whole "Force Ghost" subplot in the Prequels so the real explanation of this aspect is left muddied.
Some people have even argued that while the Emperor was defeated at the end of RoTJ and Luke's life was saved, maybe we shouldn't assume he actually died. The nature of the weird blue flames seen when Vader throws him off and what they mean have long been subject to debate. Some people also have the theory that perhaps Palpatine might follow a Sauron or Voldemort path in the new movies. Perhaps he still exists on some plane of existence and will act from there, maybe through a new apprentice, or maybe is even striving to return to the physical world.
On the other hand...
I'm fine with Obi-wan returning as a ghost to continue to aid Luke, or maybe a new hero, in a new struggle but I am not at all a fan of Ewan McGregor returning to the role and is something I feel much more strongly about. I thought he was just "okay" as Obi-wan and it will make little sense why Obi-wan has suddenly decided to appear as his younger self. If they do try to age him, I'm skeptical that they will be able to convincingly make him look like Alec Guinness. In that case, why use Ewan McGregor at all, since he bears little resemblance to Guinness in the first place? I would argue that they should just find another actor, whoever that may be, that actually looks more like Sir Alec. For me, just because McGregor played "Young Obi-wan" (and they were able to fudge any dissimilarity in appearances to youth), this is not a case for bringing him back.
This might be controversial for some but there is another alternative that I'd like to see explored. I would like to see them at least attempt to "resurrect" Alec Guinness. With ILM's capabilities in this day and age, I think it could be at least plausible that they could employ archival footage of Guinness, either as Obi-wan or even from some of his other movies, mixed with CGI trickery and a convincing voice actor to make it work. It also doesn't hurt that he would be appearing as a glowing, semi-transparent blue-tinged ghost, his movements would likely be limited, and he'd likely appear for no more than a few minutes. They wouldn't necessarily have to worry about making him blend "seamlessly" within his physical surroundings with natural fleshtones, shadowing, etc. since he'd be appearing as an ethereal ghost. Apparently they had toyed with the idea of doing this with Peter Cushing for Tarkin's appearance in Revenge of the Sith though they ultimately didn't because they couldn't find good usable footage of a young Cushing. However it does show this sort of thing has at least been explored by ILM 10 years ago. If they can make it work, I'd prefer to see them go this route before trying to shoe horn Ewan McGregor into the new movies.