Benicio del Toro might play the 'Star Wars: Episode VIII' villain

We're still months away from the hotly-anticipated "Star Wars: Episode VII," but the trickle of juicy rumors about its sequel is already underway.

According to The Wrap, the planned sequel might have found its villain in Academy Award-winning Puerto Rican actor Benicio del Toro. While just a rumor, it's an exciting one - Del Toro is a phenomenal actor, capable of portraying both Darth Vader-esque gravity and bizarre charisma at the drop of a hat.

If this rumor is true, though, it probably means Del Toro won't have much time to return to the role of The Collector from "Guardians of the Galaxy," and that would be kind of a shame.

Even if Del Toro doesn't take the role, it seems like Disney is working hard to secure top-tier talent for the next big "Star Wars" villain - Variety reports another award-winning actor, Joaquin Pheonix, has been pursued for the role.

Since "Episode VIII" isn't scheduled to premiere until May 26, 2017 - and there are two other "Star Wars" movies coming our way between now and then ("Episode VII" on December 18, 2015 and "Rogue One" on December 16, 2016) - it'll probably be some time before we get any official news.

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