‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Spoiler: Is Supreme Leader Snoke Actually ‘A New Hope’ Villain?

One of the biggest talking points from Star Wars: The Force Awakens was about Supreme Leader Snoke. The Andy Serkis voiced villain might have only appeared sporadically in The Force Awakens, but he’s likely to be much more prominent in the future installments.

What do we know about the foe? At the moment, not a lot, and information regarding Supreme Leader Snoke is still at a premium, too. Speculation has now started to swirl about the character, and one of the theories regarding Supreme Leader Snoke actually makes a lot of sense.

Plus, if it is true, Supreme Leader Snoke is someone whom audiences already met in Star Wars: A New Hope.

Obviously, if you don’t want Star Wars: Episodes 8 and 9 to possibly be ruined for you then you shouldn’t read ahead because this speculation could actually turn out to be a SPOILER.

Are all those afraid of spoilers gone? Good. That’s because ScreenRant has speculated that Supreme Leader Snoke is actually Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, most famously portrayed by Peter Cushing in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Tarkin also had a part in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith, where he was portrayed by Wayne Pygram.

At the end of Revenge Of The Sith, the younger version of Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin stood alongside Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine as they watched the original Death Star’s construction.

However, in Star Wars: A New Hope, the last time that we saw Tarkin, it was assumed that the character had died when the original Death Star blew up because of Luke Skywalker and the Rebels’ efforts.

Why does ScreenRant believe that not only did Grand Moff Tarkin survive, but he also had the wherewithal to build the Empire back up and turn them into The First Order before building the Starkiller Base?

Well, to start with, it’s clear to see that Supreme Leader Snoke is an old man who, at some point in the past, has been seriously injured. You can see the scars and burns across Snoke’s body, and it’s now been speculated that he amassed these during the destruction of the Death Star.

It’s also clear that Snoke has a lot of military experience, which Tarkin had in abundance, too; Domhnall Gleeson’s General Hux, who is in control of the Stormtrooper army, looks to Tarkin for advice.

Another factor in favor of this theory is that Emperor Snoke clearly has knowledge of the Force, having tempted Kylo Ren to the Dark Side. It would make sense that Tarkin, as Snoke, informed Ren about the history of Darth Vader to convince him to turn to the Dark Side.

One more thing to support the theory is the casting of Snoke. Andy Serkis, who plays Snoke, is English, just like Peter Cushing who starred as Tarkin.

Beginning to be convinced by the theory? Well, there’s just one problem, Andy Serkis has already confirmed that Snoke is actually an original character, which means that all of these theories are pretty much meaningless.

During an interview with Entertainment Weekly to promote Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Andy Serkis admitted that while Andy Serkis was well aware of the events from the six previous Star Wars films, his character was a completely new addition to the storyline.

Unfortunately, we’ve got quite a few years to wait until we learn about Emperor Snoke’s past. That’s because Star Wars: Episode VIII, which has been written and directed by Rian Johnson, is going to be released in May 2017, while Star Wars: Episode IX, which will be overseen by Jurassic World’s Colin Trevorrow, will be released in May 2019.

[Image via Lucasfilm]