Summary
- Killing Supreme Leader Snoke felt like a waste of potential in the Star Wars sequel trilogy.
- Snoke's character lacked depth and failed to showcase Andy Serkis' talent due to lack of development.
- Lack of long-term planning and inconsistency in the trilogy impacted Snoke's storyline negatively.
The Star Wars sequel 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 in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, yet he was abruptly killed in the sequel.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi brought 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.
Andy Serkis Gives Fans A Peek At How He Crafted His Star Wars Character Before Any Input
Andy Serkis has played some pretty iconic characters in his day, and he recently discussed the process behind everyone's least favorite one.
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 in Star Wars: The Last Jedi is something that still annoys a lot of fans because 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 been seemingly set up as the main villain for the sequel trilogy in Star 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 to Rolling Stone about 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.’”
Supreme Leader Snoke Had Potential To Offer A Lot More
He Was Killed Off Before Making A True Impact In The Star Wars Franchise
In Star 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 Wars never showcased his true capabilities in a meaningful way, which meant the character ultimately felt pointless when the movies were done. On top of that, the Star Wars franchise 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 in Star Wars, he was wasted, not only by 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 in Star 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. While his 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 three Star Wars movies featured 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 the Star Wars franchise.
