One of the most pervasive fan theories about Star Wars: The Force Awakens is that Supreme Leader Snoke, the Emperor-like head of the villainous First Order, is actually Darth Plagueis. The Sith Lord whose story Palpatine uses to manipulate Anakin into turning to the Dark Side in Revenge Of The Sith, Plagueis is one of the most important unseen characters in the whole saga; it's implied (and was even confirmed in the now defunct Expanded Unvierse) that he created Anakin through midichlorian manipulation. This theory is a genius idea - a way to link the new movies to the prequels without going near any gungans and thus gives the sequel trilogy narrative purpose; if the Star Wars saga was all about Anakin, the big bad being his creator justifies the story continuing after his death. Appearing in only a few key scenes as a hidden in shadow hologram, we know very little about Snoke, but everything that is out there points in Plagueis' direction - he even has scars, possibly from Palpatine's attempt on his life? Recent reports, however, have suggested otherwise - in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Andy Serkis, the mo-cap genius behind the character, has resolutely stated that Snoke isn't Darth Plagueis. Except... he hasn't. This story has been doing the rounds for a day or two now, yet nothing in Serkis' words is close to what's being reported. All he does is talk invery vague terms about the character, teasing long-set motivations and an overseeing presence, none of which gets onto his identity or whether we've seen him before. All we have to go on in that department is a statement by the actor pre-release about his then-unknown villain, although those broad claims have more than a ring of Khan and Blofeld to them. The closest this new article gets to anything more is stating that "he actually turns out to be just Snoke", but those are the words of its writer, Anthony Breznican, and have no relation to the Serkis quotes that everyone's been claiming disprove the Plagueis theory. Perhaps Breznican has some insider knowledge, although I would say instead he's jumping off those earlier quotes. So no, the Snoke is Plagueis theory hasn't been debunked (not yet at least). Let the speculation continue! Star Wars: The Force Awakens is in cinemas now. Star Wars Episode VIII is in cinemas on 26th May 2017.
