Star Wars 9: Is Richard E Grant playing THIS huge Star Wars villain?

He may be a big blue alien, but there is a startling similarity.

It can’t be denied that the classic images of Grand Admiral Thrawn, or Mitth’raw’nuruodo as he is catchily known to his people, bear a striking resemblance to the angular handsome star of Withnail & I and Logan.

It had previously been speculated that Benicio del Toro coud be playing Thrawn in The Last Jedi.

Now eager fans are hoping that the Chiss warrior will finally be making an appearance on the big screen.

Grant fanned the flames at the end of July.

A fan posted an image of an excited Chris Pratt responding to comparisons between Grant and Thrawn. It was a harmless and amusing personal post until Grant himself liked the tweet.

Suddenly fans were convinced it was a clue from the star, whose involvement in Star Wars Episode IX had just been announced.

Grant has been giving interviews recently and was asked point blank about his new role.

The actor is definitely heading for a galaxy far, far away but it won’t be as Thrawn.

In which case, the most likely roles would be as a First Order officer, a classic mid-level role freqently taken by Brit thespians, or perhaps a more senior figure, in the vein of Peter Cushing’s Grand Moff Tarkin.

Star Wars 9 has just started filming at Pinewood and the Cardington Sheds.

Star Wars 9 is out in December 2019