Andy Serkis discusses the possibility of uncovering Snoke’s history

Despite being featured in two Star Wars movies, fans know next to nothing about Snoke. However, Andy Serkis thinks future movies might solve that mystery.

More from Movies

• The story of a French emperor: Here’s where Napoleon will stream after theaters
• The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes honors its origins and far surpasses them
• Thanksgiving movie death toll: Why [SPOILER] is still alive
• No, Thanksgiving is not streaming yet (But here’s where it’ll land)
• Trolls Band Together soundtrack guide: Which songs play in the movie?

Star Wars is undeniably one of the most diverse franchise with fans from multiple generations making an equal number of interpretations of its stories. As Rian Johnson took the bold decision to avoid all such fan-theories, The Last Jedi ended up being one of the most divisive movies of all time. And just when it looked like the discussion has come to an end, Andy Serkis has possibly re-ignited the most popular topic of discussion among Star Wars fans: Who is Snoke?

Snoke (voiced by Andy Serkis) made his debut appearance in The Force Awakens and despite the briefness of his screen-time, he was the most talked about topic on social media. So, when he finally appeared in person, fans probably sat on the edge of their seats to hear anything about his history, only to see him get sliced by the movie’s primary antagonist, Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). However, despite the character’s death, Serkis told Screen Crush that there still might be room in the franchise to fit Snoke’s backstory.

"“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.”"

The Last Jedi ended with the Resistance boarding the Millennium Falcon and escaping the clutches of The First Order, thanks to Luke Skywalker. As The First Order didn’t make an effort to track them through hyperspace, Rey and the rest of the members will possibly have a lot of time to discuss battle-strategies in Episode IX. And considering how Snoke was the backbone of The First Order and Kylo as well, a dive into his past might allow the Resistance to deconstruct their enemies and find their essential weaknesses, while giving fans a resolution to their personal “Snoke theory”.

Do we really need to know about Snoke’s backstory?

The Force Awakens brought fans back to the franchise after 10 years. As 30 years had passed in the galaxy far, far away, there was a lot to catch up to. However, instead of answering these gaps, J. J. Abrams chose to keep them a mystery. And that meant Rian Johnson had two major tasks for his movie: take the plot of the primary characters forward and solve the mystery box left by Abrams. So, what did he do?

Johnson’s first priority was to deal with the characters who were introduced in The Force Awakens and provide a form of resolution for the recurring characters, which he did. However, instead of solving the mystery box, he simply dealt with it by converting it into a recurring theme: “Let the past die”. In doing so, he fleshed out Kylo Ren as the villain of the sequel trilogy. He resolved Rey’s internal dilemma and reestablished her as the hero of the sequel trilogy. And finally, Johnson returned Luke Skywalker to the status of a legend he once was.

In short, Snoke’s past is irrelevant to the current story. The First Order exists in the present and that’s why the point of concern should be about how to defeat it instead of finding out where they came from. While the external scars of Snoke might be interesting, it’s Ben Solo’s internal injuries and his character development that makes him the more compelling villain. In addition to that, as The Last Jedi did a marvelous job of demonstrating Rey and Kylo’s conflict, I think it’ll be far more engaging to watch them duke it out, instead of listening to who Snoke was.

Next: Did Snoke live up to the hype in Star Wars: The Last Jedi?

Although there are some fans of the prequel trilogy, it’s the perfect example of how demystifying characters don’t always work. While The Emperor was a menacing threat in the original trilogy, showing his rise only led to overdrawn expository dialogues that nearly reduced him to just a power hungry politician. So, as delving into the past hasn’t been a fruitful endeavor for the franchise, instead of focusing on who Snoke was or how he took over the Republic, future movies should show the galaxy building on the mistakes of their past and strengthening themselves to ward off any dark forces in the future.

What’s your take? Would you like to learn more about Snoke or leave it as it is?