Thanks! And yeah, the hologram option gives you a lot of options that you could play with. I actually believe Anakin going to Windu was something that was added in reshoots. I believe the Secret History of Star Wars book goes over that. It might be worth going back and seeing why they decided to go back and add that, too.
Okay, jumping around again but here is another big idea.
Awhile back and I stumbled upon this guy’s YouTube channel called Write Engage Grow. He doesn’t have a lot of Star Wars videos, but he has one video for each of the prequel films. I especially like his video for Revenge of the Sith, and I plan on eventually implementing that idea to an edit, but he has an interesting, radical idea regarding The Phantom Menace that could fit here. I’ll share the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMfewoflX7E
I’ll try to summarize it. Basically, he makes an argument for how Palpatine is one of the stronger characters of the Prequels, and since his identity isn’t much of a secret, it was a missed opportunity not to develop his story more. So, his suggestion (more from a rewriting perspective) was to cut the Gungan plot and instead use that time to have a few brief scenes with Palpatine and his master, Darth Plagueis. The Legends book, Plagueis, by James Luceno covers this relationship and actually reveals that Plagueis was around during the events of The Phantom Menace, and it was during this time that Palpatine killed him, which he recounts in Revenge of the Sith.
His video outlines some benefits of having a subplot like this. Anyway, most rewrite ideas are sort of useless fanediting-wise because of the infeasibility, but I actually don’t think this idea is totally out of the realm of possibility.
The idea would require shooting new scenes, but at the least it could be just two scenes, maybe three, basically equal to the amount of scenes Sidious and Maul get together. The scenes could either be shot on small, one-room sets or green screen, and you would only need two (or even just one) actor(s) in black robes that conceal their identity.
The first, and/or second, scene(s) would be reminiscent to the Vader/Emperor scene in Empire Strikes Back. Palpatine, in his black robe (we can’t see his face) enters a room and a hologram of Plagueis appears, giving some brief dialogue about the Sith or the Chosen One that could be pulled from the Plagueis novel. Most of the dialogue would be a new voice actor for Plagueis, with brief interjections from Palpatine where clean dialogue can be pulled from. For Palpatine’s shots we could use the close-up of him during his breif scene with Maul, and have his mouth move/not move when necessay to fit the dialogue.
The last scene would be of Palpatine, in all black, entering Plagueis’ bedroom to kill him. We wouldn’t have to see Plagueis, just the shape of a body in bed. The figure in black walks up to the bed, a quick shot of Palpatine’s face could be inserted somewhere (possibly the same one as before) and have him kill him someway, stabbing him with a lightsaber, Force lightning, etc.
Just to take this a step further, I’m not saying I would necessarily do this myself, but for those who like this certain theory, it could be an opportunity to set up the idea that Darth Plagueis’ alter ego is Snoke.
For the shots of Plagueis’ face, you could use these photoshopped images of Snoke without the facial deformities and scarring. 1) https://i.redd.it/bpnydo7c3vk01.jpg 2) https://i.pinimg.com/originals/f2/4a/ba/f24aba15a31f5f132cd80fc953168bb1.jpg
Then, you could use the same technique Adywan used for his Emperor in ESB:R to make him feel like he is talking. And you can find some pretty decent Snoke impersonators on YouTube, and probably here on this site too.
Whatever Palpatine does to “kill” him could be the reason for his scars, and you could have Palpatine kill him in a more ambiguous way. I can imagine a shot where Palpatine knocks over a candle in his room as he leaves, and then we see his ship flying away from the building as his apartment is on fire. Or, he blows up his apartment from a distance. A lot of options. The only downside is we wouldn’t get an explanation of how he survived, beyond Palpatine saying he knew how to “create life” and “cheat death”. And, of course, how Plagueis’ survival could undermine Palpatine’s own intelligence and authority as the big bad of the OT.
Anyway, this is a bigger edit idea then my usual stuff, but it definitely fits under that “Radical Idea” criteria, but I don’t think it is totally impossible either. Just would require some actual costumes and production work.