News Star Wars Oscar Isaac Shares the Story Behind the “Somehow, Palpatine Returned” Line in The Rise of Skywalker “Had you asked me if at that moment I thought that was going to be the line, I wouldn’t have known,” By Matthew Byrd | Published on April 20, 2026 Photo: Walt Disney Studios Comment 0 Share New Share Photo: Walt Disney Studios You would think that the most memorable scene from 2019’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker would be the one that involves space horses (they’re actually called Orbaks and they’re not technically riding in outer space). However, it’s arguably the moment when Oscar Isaac’s Poe Dameron utters the line “Somehow, Palpatine returned” in regard to the Emperor’s resurrection. At the very least, that has become the most memed line from the film. Well, in an interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Isaac explains the behind-the-scenes origins of that now-famous line. “Those were reshoots,” Isaac says in regard to a question about whether he remembers first seeing the line and recognizing its significance. “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. There was a lot of movement and flux throughout that whole thing.” Isaac, who also recalls needing to use a wig for that scene as he had since gotten a haircut, goes on to say that the line’s legacy certainly caught him by surprise. “Had you asked me if at that moment I thought that was going to be the line, I wouldn’t have known,” Isaac says with a grin and a laugh. “But hey man, I committed to the exasperation, that’s for sure.” Unfortunately, it’s still not clear exactly why that particular line was added or how that sequence was going to play out before the reshoots. It’s also perhaps worth noting that the broadcast that seemingly let the galaxy know that Palpatine returned actually happened during a sponsored Fortnite event rather than in the movie itself. Perhaps that line was intended to serve as a stronger bridge between that canonical in-game event and the film. At the very least, it lets the audience know beyond any doubt that the resistance is also aware of what happened. In other Star Wars news, Isaac also mentioned that he was largely unaware of Steven Soderbergh’s now-canceled Ben Solo movie and says he found out about it around the same time the rest of the world did. That said, he says a Soderbergh Star Wars movie would be “amazing.”[end-mark] The post Oscar Isaac Shares the Story Behind the “Somehow, Palpatine Returned” Line in <i>The Rise of Skywalker</i> appeared first on Reactor.