Supreme Leader Snoke will remain in the shadows in The Last Jedi
By Andi Ortiz
Supreme Leader Snoke has taken over the Star Wars universe, and the questions are flying. But it appears we won’t get too many answers in The Last Jedi.
With The Last Jedi fast approaching, Star Wars fans everywhere are anxious for answers. Like the prequels before it, The Force Awakens introduced a set of brand new characters, expanding the story and adding new mysteries. Among that bunch were two new villains: Kylo Ren and Supreme Leader Snoke.
In the first six films, the Jedi were battling the Sith. Now the threat comes from a group called The Knights of Ren. Snoke is introduced at Kylo Ren’s master; whether he oversees all of the Knights of Ren is still unclear.
The Sith were arguably easier to handle. As Yoda informs Mace Windu in Episode I, “always two there are – no more, no less.” With the Knights of Ren, we have no idea how many there are, or where they come from, but fans have some thoughts.
As for Snoke himself, fans everywhere are dying for his origin story. But for that, they’re going to have to wait even longer.
New Details
Thanks to recent coverage from Vanity Fair, fans have new insights into The Last Jedi. In addition to his coverage for the magazine, writer David Kamp also did a Reddit AMA – for those less familiar with Reddit, AMA stands for “Ask Me Anything” – to try and further answer fan questions.
There was one big question on everyone’s mind: what did Kamp find out about Snoke?
"“I asked Rian Johnson about Snoke—Who/what is he?—and Rian was fairly up front in saying that Snoke is not a character he particularly gets into in TLJ. Hmmm.”"
With Luke being at the center of the film, many fans were surprised to hear this. Given that Kylo Ren – then known as Ben Solo – was Luke’s apprentice, it is expected that Luke and Snoke would share a deeper connection somehow. One of the most popular theories is that Snoke is actually Anakin Skywalker’s father, making him Luke’s grandfather.
Though Anakin was assumed to be conceived by the Force in The Phantom Menace, this bit was never officially confirmed.
Audience Reception
Perhaps disappointing to some fans, this is fairly typical for the Star Wars franchise. In the original trilogy, Darth Sidious spent plenty of time in the background. Even without a heavy presence from Snoke, the tone of The Last Jedi is expected to be intense, according to Kamp.
"“It’s definitely darker. Kathleen Kennedy described the natural arc of each trilogy as “Setup; Conflict; Resolution.” That makes TLJ the “Conflict” chapter.”"
Still, it’s clear that Snoke is an important character, and will likely have a big reveal at some point. So far he’s already given an important key to figuring out the if the true meaning of the title of The Last Jedi:
Though his story won’t be explored, Supreme Leader Snoke is expected to still make appearances.
Next: Star Wars has another spinoff coming in 2020
After Kylo Ren’s loss to Rey, Snoke’s determination to recruit her will likely only increase.