In his first big post-FORCE AWAKENS casting play, Rian Johnson is trying to do what his predecessor J.J. Abrams couldn’t: get Benicio Del Toro to play the villain in his big STAR movie.
Del Toro famously turned down the role of Not-Khan in STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS, and now, the Academy Award-winner has been offered the role of “the villain” in the Johnson-directed STAR WARS: EPISODE VIII. Talks “are still in the very early stages,” but like with INTO DARKNESS, Benicio is their golden-boy first choice.
Remember that this wouldn’t be Benicio’s first go-around with a Disney-owned sci-fi property; he had that scene-stealing turn as Taneleer Tivan a.k.a. The Collector in GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY last year, so the folks at Disney definitely have his number lying around.
We can’t even begin to speculate on who he’d play until at least after we’ve seen THE FORCE AWAKENS (is there room for another Sith Lord/Imperial Commander/Stormtrooper?), but I don’t think I’m alone in thinking he’d rule ass in whatever role they gave him. I only have to rattle off a few titles (THE USUAL SUSPECTS, FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS, TRAFFIC, THE WAY OF THE GUN) to remind you of how fucking hard he can dominate the screen when he lets himself really go for it and run wild.
Interestingly, if he’s hired, he would be the first Oscar-winning actor to partake in this new trilogy, and the second (after Forest Whitaker) to appear in any of the Disney SW flicks.
This has a chance of not working out (I expect to see The Collector preen his feathers once more...), but I’m really hoping Rian, Kathleen Kennedy, and the rest are able to lock down their dream pick. Many are expecting EMPIRE-level greatness from the middle installment of this new trilogy, and casting Benicio would be a good indication that they’re upping the ante from THE FORCE AWAKENS, and taking things into more serious waters. A collab between Johnson and Del Toro would be terrific in any circumstances, but for his chief villain in his STAR WARS movie? Sounds like a good recipe for amazingness.
STAR WARS: EPISODE VIII - WHAT THE FUCK ARE WE DOING OUT HERE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DESERT hopefully doesn’t Khan us out of our money on May 26th, 2017.
