Summary
TheStar Warssequel trilogy introduced a host of new characters to go alongside the returning legacy stars, and one of the most interesting was Supreme Leader Snoke. The mysterious leader of the First Order was well-developed inStar Wars: The Force Awakens, yet he was abruptly killed in the sequel.
Star Wars: The Last Jedibrought an end to Snoke’s time in the franchise at the hands of Kylo Ren, and while it was helpful in his personal development, it felt like an absolute waste of potential. It’s something that Rian Johnson has protested against, but when reflecting on the trilogy, it’s hard to see an argument for anything other than Snoke being wasted.
Rian Johnson Revealed Why He Killed Supreme Leader Snoke
Johnson Believes The Focus Was On Kylo Ren In This Moment
The decision to kill Supreme Leader Snoke inStar Wars: The Last Jediis something that still annoys a lot of fansbecause it seemingly came out of nowhere without any real buildup. There wasn’t a climactic moment that fans were never going to forget. Instead, the entire situation was easily forgettable, which should never be the case for a death of this magnitude. What made the situation annoying to people was that Supreme Leader Snoke had beenseemingly set up as the main villainfor the sequel trilogy inStar Wars: The Force Awakens, so when that decision was reversed, it made people feel like they’d wasted their time putting any effort into him as a character. Johnson was the director who made the call to kill Andy Serkis' character, and he recently spoke toRolling Stoneabout why he did that, as he defended the decision.
“This is all a matter of perspective and phrasing, but to me, I didn’t easily dispense with Snoke. I took great pains to use him in the most dramatically impactful way I could, which was to then take Kylo’s character to the next level and set him up as well as I possibly could. I guess it all comes down to your point of view. I thought, ‘This is such a compelling and complicated villain. This is this is who it makes sense going forward to build around.’”
He Was Killed Off Before Making A True Impact In The Star Wars Franchise
InStar Wars: The Force Awakens, Supreme Leader Snoke was seen as a threatening villain who was going to be all-encompassing and powerful, which should’ve led to him causing problems to anyone who stepped in his way. However,Star Warsnever showcased his true capabilities in a meaningful way, which meant the character ultimately felt pointless when the movies were done.On top of that, theStar Warsfranchise failed to get the best out of Serkis as an actor.They managed to hire one of the most talented actors in the world when it comes to playing motion capture characters, having brought the likes of Gollum and Caesar to life with his unique talent. Yet inStar Wars, he was wasted, not onlyby killing Snoke off, but also by having him express little emotion or movement.
Ultimately, Supreme Leader Snoke wasn’t able to make any impact as he ended up being a clone that Emperor Palpatine had created. It stopped him from being a memorable villain in his own right, which he could easily have been after how menacing and mysterious he seemed inStar Wars: The Force Awakens.Snoke had a brilliant look and an evil presence that should have been exploited in more detail, yet he ended up being glossed over to focus on other characters. Whilehis death did benefit Kylo Ren, making him instantly seem more dangerous, it didn’t help him enough to the point where it justifies him killing Supreme Leader Snoke when he did. Kylo’s decision would actually have had more impact if Supreme Leader Snoke had been shown in more detail and was built up to be as powerful as possible, because this would’ve allowed Kylo to seem like a badass.
Supreme Leader Snoke’s Plot Highlighted The Issues With The Star Wars Trilogy Sequels
There Appeared To Be A Lack Of Long-Term Planning For Him
Supreme Leader Snoke’s lack of impact or general storyline highlighted a significant issue throughout the entire sequel trilogy in that nothing seemed to be planned in the long term. It felt like decisions were being made on a movie-to-movie basis, which stopped the trilogy from being seamless in the manner that audiences wanted.Each of these threeStar Warsmoviesfeatured a different writer and director, which led to many inconsistencies, with Supreme Leader Snoke being a victim of that in many ways. It appeared that J.J. Abrams had big plans for the character, seemingly to make him the main villain, but all of the seeds she planted in the first film were simply ignored.Supreme Leader Snoke was ultimately a character that looked impressive from a visual standpoint and had the potential to be something special. But he ended up being a victim of circumstance, and even though Johnson wanted to use his death to benefit others, it wasn’t put together in a way that helped anyone involved, including theStar Warsfranchise.
