I’ve also been hoping they wouldn’t resort to a greater evil trope that they have to unite in order to take down. To me, Kylo Ren and his followers should be treated as the bad guys, but through the posutive actions of the good guys they are able to find a path to peace with their enemy rather than by just destroying them.

But, there’s so little information that we are doomed to get false expectations or blow things out of proportion until we see the movie. I’m just gonna keep an open mind that they can make the Emperor’s return work and make sense within the story, and maybe it’ll provide some more context with how Snoke fit into this picture. I didn’t see anyone mention how the Emperor’s motif played in TLJ when Snoke threw Rey into the air. Initially I just thought it was a callback but maybe that will carry more importance in retrospect.

At this point, the Emperor might be playing a bigger or smaller role than we are expecting right now. So the best thing is to keep an open mind and imagine how either option could work for you and the story.