Star Wars fans have spent the months since the release of The Force Awakens collectively theorizing over the true identity of one of the film’s main villains, Supreme Leader Snoke, but now a Lucasfilm official has put an end to one of the most popular rumors regarding the character’s identity.
Fan theories are nothing new in Star Wars circles, and The Force Awakens left enough unanswered questions to give rise to a multitude of them. Chief among those mysteries was the true identity of Supreme Leader Snoke, the villainous leader of the First Order, who is played by Andy Serkis and only observed as a towering hologram. A scarred alien of indeterminate species, Snoke is described as a Force-sensitive character, responsible for turning Ben Solo to the Dark Side.
. @StarWars Story Group Definitively Says Supreme Leader Snoke is NOT Darth Plagueis! https://t.co/SUmNXYeM9t pic.twitter.com/iwQxiEvpS4
— Comicbook.com (@ComicBook) May 10, 2016
Snoke is also one of the least fleshed out characters in The Force Awakens , as his background is never revealed. In the aftermath of the film’s release, fans put forth a number of theories regarding Snoke’s true identity, positing that he was actually the Emperor, a resurrected Darth Vader, or even Grand Moff Tarkin. One of the most popular theories, however, suggested that Snoke is in actuality Darth Plagueis, the Sith lord who taught Darth Sidious the ways of the Dark Side.
Darth Plagueis first entered Star Wars canon in Revenge of the Sith , as Cinemablend notes, when Chancellor Palpatine (Darth Sidious) revealed his history to Anakin Skywalker. On the surface, the theory that Darth Plagueis and Snoke could be one and the same held some merit, as Plagueis had developed the ability to save those he loved from the specter of death. Perhaps, some fans reasoned, he had found a way to survive Palpatine’s attempt on his life, and extend his existence beyond the destruction of the second Death Star over Endor. Some fans even pointed to the similar musical cues that were used when both characters were referenced onscreen, finding a correlation between them and meaning in their similarity.
This #StarWars Villain Will Not Return in #RogueOne https://t.co/itXcA9uyks #Snoke #TheForceAwakens #SaturdayMorning pic.twitter.com/KsYRmTYUck
— RJSolo (@WMSCollectables) April 30, 2016
Unfortunately, it turns out that the Snoke/Plagueis rumor doesn’t hold as much water as fans originally thought. Lucasfilm’s Pablo Hidalgo has been engaging with Star Wars fans on Twitter recently, and he was asked point blank if the two villains were one and the same. His response was nothing if not succinct, as Moviepilot notes.
@timvitkuske he was said to possess the ability to keep loved ones from dying. Not himself. His apprentice killed him.
— Pablo Hidalgo (@pablohidalgo) May 8, 2016
Despite Hidalgo’s assertion that Plagueis was in fact dead long before The Force Awakens , sci-fi, as a genre, is known for bringing seemingly departed characters back to life. Lucasfilm has been famously secretive regarding the new Star Wars films as well, and fans have every reason to believe that such an admission could be a bit of intentional misdirection. With that in mind, one fan pressed Hidalgo on his position, drawing forth a frank clarification regarding Plagueis, and his place in the new films.
@MarissaTalchi @Daniel_Outhier @Gary_Thursby I said Sidious killed Plagueis. He killed him. Killed. As in “to kill”. Like, there was killing
— Pablo Hidalgo (@pablohidalgo) May 8, 2016
So, it appears that the most popular fan theory regarding Snoke’s identity is, much like Darth Plagueis, stone dead. Intrepid fans have more than enough to wonder over in the newly expanded Star Wars universe, however, and can satisfy themselves with debating who exactly is in the bacta tank in the Rogue One trailer, or who Supreme Leader Snoke might actually be.
[Photo by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment]
