Star Wars: The Last Jedi - Every Reveal From EW's Cover Story

3. Snoke Is Fuelled By A Personal Hatred

Along with Rey’s parentage and just how Maz got her hands on Luke’s lightsaber, one of the biggest mysteries surrounding the new trilogy is Supreme Leader Snoke. Who is he? Where did he come from? What, exactly, is his goal?

Rian Johnson’s said we don’t get into Snoke too much during The Last Jedi, so we might not get full answers, but in his interview with EW actor Andy Serkis is dropping some hints.

“The thing about Snoke is that he is extremely strong with the Force, the Dark Side of the Force. He’s terribly powerful, of course. But he is also a very vulnerable and wounded character. He has suffered and he has suffered injury. The way that his malevolence comes out is in reaction to that. His hatred of the Resistance is fuelled by what’s happened to him personally.”

We’ve seen from his scarred visage that he’s obviously been hurt in some way, but it’s interesting to read that this is what drives him against the Resistance and (perhaps) the Light Side of the Force. Maybe it was a previous encounter with Luke Skywalker that left him so damaged and angry?

Serkis also describes the character as a 9ft tall alien humanoid who loathes (and preys on) weakness, and discusses how his work with Kylo Ren isn’t going as planned:

“His training of Kylo Ren is not yielding what he wants. Therefore his anger towards Kylo Ren is intensified because he can’t bear weakness in others. Part of the manipulation is goading him with Hux and playing them off against each other.”

While Hux is a pawn in Snoke’s bigger game, there are other signs of his displeasure with Kylo: mostly his growing interest in Rey, who he’s torturing - and testing - in the trailers, and might be the person to carry out his vision in a way Kylo Ren cannot.