Benicio Del Toro Confirms ‘Star Wars 8’ Negotiations

Benicio del Toro is the perpetual bad guy, and he is confirming the rumors that he is in negotiations to play a villain for Star Wars 8.

Even as we prepare to witness the return of the Star Wars franchise, when The Force Awakens hits theaters on December 18, pre-production is underway for Episode 8. Now it appears we will get to see the quintessential baddie, Benicio del Toro.

Disney is full steam ahead with the next installment of the saga, even though the yet-to-be-titled Star Wars 8 will not open until May 26, 2017. Rumors that Benicio del Toro was in talks with Lucasfilm to play a villain surfaced a while ago, but there was nothing official until now.

The 48-year-old Puerto Rican-born Oscar winner told Entertainment Tonight it’s not set in stone yet, but there’s a good chance he will be in Star Wars 8.

“I can’t tell you much about it but I think that it might happen. It looks like it’s gonna happen so I’m very excited. I can’t talk too much about it. The script is hard to get. They told me they’d cut my finger if I talk about it.”

But Benicio del Toro is much more than a baddie and has proven throughout his career that he can pretty much play any role they put in front of him. This fits perfectly with the casting so far, which is a mix of the original cast and a very talented group of newcomers.

The bad news is that del Toro wasn’t allowed to elaborate further on who he would potentially play if he ended up joining Star Wars 8, which will be directed by Rian Johnson, who will pen the script alongside franchise creator George Lucas. We are still months away from the start of the Disney production, so this provides us with an opportunity to speculate about what segment of the Dark Side Benicio del Toro would be joining.

Depending on how the Star Wars: The Force Awakens plotline develops and which baddie gets killed, Benicio del Toro’s role is anyone’s guess. However, rumors are already floating around that he is a key player in the subsequent episodes.

We know Daisy Ridley (Rey) is signed for the remainder Star Wars installments, and Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron) seems to also be a done deal. With talk that Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) will only have minimal on-screen time in The Force Awakens, we could see that side of the plot more fully developed on Star Wars 8.

What do you think of Benicio del Toro joining Star Wars 8 as a villain?

[Photo by Koji Watanabe/Getty Images]