With plans for a May 26th, 2017 release, we learned back in July that Benicio Del Toro was in talks for Star Wars: Episode VIII in a villainous role. Nothing much was said beyond that, which is par for the course as all things are talked about, hammered out and connections made with the production team to see if it’ll all really work. With filming expected to start next year and pre-production underway to get everything in order, he’s now confirmed that he’s taking on the role of the villain for the eighth episode in the franchise.

According to the interview, he also revealed that filming itself is set to begin in March 2016.

“Star Wars is coming up, we will see how that turns out. I think we start shooting in March.”

when asked about his role, he responded with:

“Ehhh, the thing is, they don’t let me talk too much about it. I’m like the villain. But we’ll see.”

While no character itself has been confirmed according to the interview he’s done, his participating as the villain here doesn’t mean any of the villains from the seventh installment won’t be in it, as there are three current named ones with Domhnall Gleeson’s General Hux, Gwendolyn Christie’s Captain Phasma, and Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren, but the potential for any of them to be offed is certainly there. But one can also see the intent on expanding the overall universe when looking at both story potential in other media as well as toys and the like. So an expansion seems mostly likely at this point.

Del Toro had a small role in last year’s Guardians of the Galaxy as the Collector and is appearing next in Sicario.

[Source: StarWars7news.com ]