Benicio del Toro
Actor Benicio del Toro attends The National Board of Review Gala, held to honor the 2015 award winners, in the Manhattan borough of New York January 5, 2016. Reuters/Andrew Kelly

With filming of “Star Wars: Episode 8” wrapped, theories about the plot continue to engage the fans while they wait for more official details. A new theory suggests that Benicio Del Toro could be playing Admiral Thrawn, a character being introduced in the animation series.

[Spoiler alert]

Admiral Thrawn is one of the villains being introduced in the third season of “Star Wars Rebels” TV series. The character belongs to the Chiss species, so he immediately stands out with his blue skin and red eyes. The character also appears in the non-canon book series of the franchise, which is now referred to as “Legends.”

In a theory posted on YouTube by Mike Zeroh, the fan points to the sudden spike in interest of the character in the franchise as proof that Admiral Thrawn will play an important role in the future movies. Apart from being featured in the animation series, the character is getting his own book in 2017, which suggests that the character may be a part of “Star Wars: Episode 8.”

According to the Wikia page of the character, in the Legends books Admiral Thrawn established a secret empire of his own. This could have been used by the writers to say that the character helped establish the First Order in secret, along with Supreme Leader Snoke ( Andy Serkis), General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson) and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver).

Meanwhile, more behind the scenes pictures of the upcoming movie have been posted on YouTube by Mike Zeroh. The pictures were released at the “Celebrations” event in London, but are yet to be made available to the general public.

The producers have so far not revealed the name of the character Benicio Del Toro will play in “Star Wars: Episode 8.” Will he get to play Admiral Thrawn? Please leave your comments below.

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