Could we still learn Snoke’s backstory in aStar Warsmovie? One of the biggest points of curiosity for many heading intoStar Wars: The Last Jediwas Supreme Leader Snoke. He was set up as a major figure inStar Wars: The Force Awakensand many wanted to learn more about him inThe Last Jedi. Ultimately, that didn’t happen. However, Andy Serkis has revealed that we may still learn Snoke’s backstory, possibly inStar Wars 9.
Warning: spoilers ahead forStar Wars: The Last Jedi. While heading into what would appear to be the climactic confrontation ofThe Last Jedi, Kylo Ren killsSnoke. So, in the timeline of the new trilogy, Snoke is dead and we’ve learned right next to nothing about him. However, in an interview promotingBlack Pantherrecently, Andy Serkis was asked if he has talked with J.J. Abrams or Rian Johnson about Snoke’s past. Here’s what he had to say about it.
“We did, yeah. We’ve talked about it. We wanted to keep it a mystery and, you know by the way, it is Star Wars so who knows what might happen. Without giving anything away.”
When pressed for more,Andy Serkissimply said, “Well, it’s Star Wars. What can I say? [Laughs].” Obviously, anyone involved in aStar Warsmovie wouldn’t be able to say whether or not they’re coming back for another movie, or what’s going to happen with their character in a movie. In this case, most likely, we’re talking about any potential Snoke involvement inStar Wars 9. That said, Serkis seems to pretty clearly be teasing a possible reappearance of Snoke in the future, either in a flashback or by way of some sort of Dark Side Force ghost, or something along those lines.
Whether or not Snoke’s backstory is revealed inStar Wars: Episode IX, or a differentStar Warsmovie, is something we likely won’t learn for quite some time. The fact that director Rian Johnson didn’t explore Snoke further inThe Last Jediwas a major source of frustration for many, but the director revealed during a Q&A after the movie was released why he handled things the way he did.
“In this particular story, it’s much more like theoriginal trilogy, where with Snoke if you think about the actual scenes, if suddenly I had paused one of the scenes to give a 30 second monologue about who he was, it would have kind of stopped the scene in its tracks, I realized. Even though it could have been interesting, something that fans were interested in, as storytellers, we have to kind of serve what the scenes need to be. It was a tough thing, even though I knew some fans were interested in it I also knew it wasn’t something that dramatically had a place in this movie. Hopefully it can be addressed elsewhere or even J.J. may address it in the next movie. But it’s not something that’s particularly interesting to Rey, so we kind of had to follow through.”
J.J. Abrams is currently preppingStar Wars 9, which is set for release in December 2019. Ultimately, it will be his decision if Snoke’sbackstorywill be revealed. Either that, or Rian Johnson could find a way to work Snoke into his upcomingStar Warstrilogy, but that seems far less likely. There’s also always the possibility of a Snoke novel or comic book series that explores the character further. In any case, Andy Serkis' comments toScreen Crushare worth raising an eyebrow over.
