Force Friday II is now just a few weeks away, and as Disney and Lucasfilm put the final touches to Star Wars: The Last Jedi‘s merchandise line, pertinent details are beginning to trickle onto the interwebs.
Last week, for instance, we caught a glimpse of BB-9, the First Order droid that is essentially the evil doppelgänger to BB-8, replete with black matte plating and various other bells and whistles, along with possible intel on Supreme Leader Snoke and his Mega Star Destroyer. Andy Serkis’ unsightly alien is said to be located within some form of mobile command unit that orbits a new, blood-red planet far away from the pocket of space previously occupied by Starkiller Base.
The exact whereabouts of Snoke’s HQ are yet to be revealed officially, but the eagle eyes of Reddit have today uncovered some more merchandise art that gives us both a look at the aforementioned big bad along with Kylo Ren. It’s not much and more or less follows what we’ve seen of the two characters already, but you can take a look at the photo in the gallery below, along with a few previously released ones, for a taste of what’s to come this December.
Said to be around seven foot tall, Snoke is a power-mongering being that pulled the strings behind Ben Solo’s journey over to the dark side of the Force, where he was anointed Kylo Ren and placed in charge of the Knights of Ren. Adam Driver brought that character to life with a real sense of menace two years ago, and after The Force Awakens and his defeat at the hands of Daisy Ridley’s Rey aboard Starkiller Base, The Last Jedi will see Kylo Ren hunt down the remnants of the Resistance (and the Jedi!) with all guns blazing.
As for Snoke, we fully expect Andy Serkis’ big bad to enjoy a meatier role when the lights go down in theatres. Chances are his presence is enough to spur Luke Skywalker into action, potentially setting up an almighty clash between the two titans – between the dark side and the light – ahead of the release of Star Wars: Episode IX in 2019.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi is expected to open on December 15th of this year, and it seems Harrison Ford’s Han Solo will still feature quite prominently despite dying at the hands of his estranged son at the tail-end of The Force Awakens.