Throughout yesterday’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi newsgasm, information about one important character was conspicuous by its absence. I’m talking of course about the mysterious Supreme Leader Snoke, ultimate commander of the villainous First Order and the top dog bad guy of the whole new trilogy.
The most we heard came courtesy of Vanity Fair reporter David Kamp, who participated in a Reddit AMA where he fielded questions about his time on set (no doubt accompanied by a stern-looking Lucasfilm employee to make sure he didn’t spill too many beans). In response to a query about Snoke, Kamp said the following:
“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.”
I’m going to go out on a limb and say this is probably for the best. After all, the more mysterious a bad guy is the more intimidating he becomes (and the more we can have fun speculating about his true origins). Still, Snoke is definitely due to appear in The Last Jedi, apparently in an opulent throne room aboard a ship that functions as his base of operations. So, at minimum, we should learn whether he really is a giant or not. I’m actually hoping it turns out to be a tiny 10 inch tall man who uses holograms to make himself appear larger.
Either way, it’s looking like we’ll have to wait for Colin Trevorrow’s Episode IX for the skinny on Snoke. That’s due to begin shooting in January 2018 with a targeted release of May 2019. Until then, we’ll just have to make do with Star Wars: The Last Jedi, coming considerably sooner on December 15th.