Star Wars: The Last Jedi has remained shrouded in mystery with only a few rare leaks giving fans a glimpse into what the film, formerly dubbed Episode VIII , might involve as far as plot and characters. Even Daisy Ridley’s own Rey remains a mystery in respect to her parentage, so it’s not surprising that details about the newest villain, Supreme Leader Snoke, is another closely guarded secret. Played by supremely talented character actor Andy Serkis, Supreme Leader Snoke made his debut in The Force Awakens , but has kept Star Wars fans guessing…until now.
Where Exactly In The Star Wars Universe Does Supreme Leader Snoke Come From?
Star Wars: The Force Awakens introduced a deadly and frightening new villain when they brought Supreme Leader Snoke into the story, but, as Express reports, little has been revealed about the character. In fact, J.J. Abrams built upon the same style of intrigue and mystery George Lucas used in first introducing Darth Vader in the original trilogy, letting Snoke’s overbearing presence speak for itself.
Star Wars fans like to think there are few surprises left to them, after generations of cannon and non-cannon material from which they have to draw. Until now, however, fans have been left largely in the dark.
Pablo Hidalgo is in the unique position of having access to information on Supreme Leader Snoke that has been unavailable to the rest of us. To start, Hidalgo has worked extensively with Lucasfilm. While Pablo doesn’t share anything from Star Wars: The Last Jedi , he has had access to the novelization of The Force Awakens , which is more detailed about certain things, like Snoke’s existence, than the film.
Hidalgo posted an excerpt from that book, which specifically deals with Snoke.
“I guess this question has come up. Snoke’s humanity, as described in the novelization of The Force Awakens, ” Pablo captioned the tweet.
The actual excerpt may disappoint some Star Wars theorists, particularly those hoping Snoke is the reincarnation of a human Star Wars character.
“Seated on the raised platform that was the focus of the chamber was the blue-tinted holo of Supreme Leader Snoke,” reads the excerpt. “Tall and gaunt, he was humanoid but no human.”
Supreme Leader Snoke Will Remain A Mystery Through Star Wars: The Last Jedi
There was just a vaguely plotted story for Ian Johnson to follow when he took over Episode VIII from J.J. Abrams, reports /Film , and the new Star Wars director was given full reign in telling the story he wanted to tell. In fact, Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy was the one to promise Johnson minimal interference in his filmmaking process, which also includes the direction of the franchise with The Last Jedi .
“We were sort of plotting out, because obviously if you know up front that you’re building the pacing inside a trilogy structure, we needed to have some sense of where this saga was going without locking in on things and leaving room for creative development,” Ms. Kennedy previously shared. “But we had to have some sense of where we were going.”
A Twitter user recently brought Kathleen’s statement to Rian Johnson’s attention, after Rian declared that he was taking his own direction. Johnson’s response about The Last Jedi indicates there may have been a miscommunication early on, which has since been ironed out.
“But how do I reconcile that with this? Some sense of where the saga was going?” a user named Bogwing asked Rian Johnson about the Lucasfilm head’s earlier quote.
“I’m sure they talked about where it might go early on, but when they came to me there was no mapped story presented beyond TFA,” replied the Star Wars: The Last Jedi director.
On the role of Supreme Leader Snoke in The Last Jedi , indications are that the new villain will not be prominently featured. A Reddit user posed the question of whether anything new would be learned about the villain, or if Snoke would be involved in a fight scene.
In response, Rian Johnson says “Snoke is not a character he particularly gets into in TLJ,” as reported by David Kamp during the Reddit AMA.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi will be released in theaters on December 15.
[Featured Image by Walt Disney Pictures/Lucasfilm]