In a fun callback to 2011, when we were all certain that Benicio Del Toro would play the villain in the then-untitled Star Trek sequel, The Wrap is reporting that Disney and Lucasfilm want Del Toro to play the villain in Star Wars: Episode VIII—as in, the one after The Force Awakens. The Wrap says that “discussions are still in the very early stages,” but supposedly “multiple individuals familiar with the casting process” have confirmed that it’s true. We don’t know much about the character that Del Toro would play, but The Wrap does specifically say “the villain” and not “a villain,” so he’d have to be someone even more evil than Adam Driver. (Or at least Adam Driver’s character in The Force Awakens.)
Now, sites make up and/or get fed false rumors all the time, so this isn’t necessarily more believable just because it’s coming from a place like The Wrap and not HotStarWarsNews.com, but Variety is also reporting that Del Toro has been offered the role, and it seems to be citing its own sources in addition to The Wrap‘s article. That still doesn’t make any of this real—Variety even notes that “a deal is still far away from coming together”—but it does add a little more credence to the rumor. All of that being said, Episode VIII is still multiple years away, so even if Disney is meeting with Del Toro right this instant, something could come up and Del Toro could back out, forcing the studio to replace him with, oh, let’s say Benedict Cumberbatch.
