10 Things That Annoy You About New Star Wars That Didn't Bother Original Trilogy Fans

What's the deal with Supreme Leader Snoke? Ever since Andy Serkis' sinister voiceover on the very first Force Awakens teaser trailer became our first introduction to the world of Disney-era Star Wars there has been wild speculation about the big boss of the First Order. Who is he? Where did he come from? How did he become the First Order's Supreme Leader? Is he really Darth Plagueis? No, really, is he actually Darth Plagueis?

Snoke's brief appearance as a giant hologram in The Force Awakens just prompted more questions (not least of all being: is he really that big?). After years of speculation, then, fans came into The Last Jedi expecting answers and were thoroughly wrong footed when Snoke was abruptly dispatched by his erstwhile apprentice without ever getting to deliver a lengthy monologue outlining his origin story.

Many fans were frustrated that we were never given answers as to where Snoke came from, but this was never their response the previous time a sinister puppetmaster was revealed in the background controlling the actions of Star Wars' more active villain.

Like Snoke, Palpatine first appeared as a hologram issuing orders and malevolent pronouncements but little else, before showing up in the wrinkly flesh in the sequel to manipulate a fight between his apprentice and our hero. And, like Snoke, that's pretty much the sum total of his character.

Original trilogy Sheev Palpatine has no backstory, no particular motivations beyond power, and we don't even learn his name. He's the head of an evil empire, so he's simply the evil Emperor. Back in the 1980s people didn't need more than that. They could see that he was incredibly powerful in the Dark Side of the Force, had used that power to corrupt Vader and wanted to do the same to Luke. That was enough for the plot to work.

Of course, we got more backstory than we ever asked for with Palpatine in both the now non-canon Legends series and the current expanded universe, not to mention a whole prequel trilogy showing his rise. All of which does kind of suggest that anyone seeking answers to their nitpicky problems with the new trilogy will be sure to find them somewhere in the vast amount of other Star Wars media.

For the rest of us, maybe we should just be happy with a little mystery remaining in our favourite space opera, just as we were decades ago.