There may be only four weeks standing between now and The Last Jedi‘s arrival – December 15th is the date for your diaries – but still, the origin and creation of Snoke remains firmly under wraps.
It’s all part of Rian Johnson’s masterplan to retain a sense of mystery around the First Order’s Supreme Leader, after the director stressed that Star Wars: The Last Jedi will reveal most, but not all of Snoke’s backstory.
Fast forward to now, and as part of EW’s ongoing Star Wars coverage, the outlet caught up with Andy Serkis to discuss his malevolent villain, who he described as a “terribly powerful, [yet] very vulnerable” character, one who harbors a deep-seated hatred of the Resistance for reasons unknown.
The thing about Snoke is that he is extremely strong with the Force, the dark side of the Force. He’s terribly powerful, of course. But he is also a very vulnerable and wounded character. He has suffered and he has suffered injury. The way that his malevolence comes out is in reaction to that. His hatred of the Resistance is fueled by what’s happened to him personally.
Could it be that the Resistance was responsible for leaving Snoke in his scarred, vulnerable state? It’s certainly plausible, but if anything, that raging anger only results in a sense of loathing for those who display weakness – including Kylo Ren.
Per EW:
His training of Kylo Ren is not yielding what he wants. Therefore his anger towards Kylo Ren is intensified because he can’t bear weakness in others. Part of the manipulation is goading him with Hux and playing them off against each other.
Having been introduced to audiences via a floor-to-ceiling hologram back in 2015, Star Wars: The Last Jedi will herald the moment when Snoke finally steps out of the shadows. Expect that and much more to occur when Rian Johnson’s sequel opens big on December 15th. How big, exactly? Try a $200m-plus opening weekend in North America.
