Originally published September 6, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
With just a few months to go until the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, there are still several questions surrounding the film, particularly over the Sequel Trilogy’s central villains. J.J. Abrams didn’t reveal much about Supreme Leader Snoke in The Force Awakens, and it seems director Rian Johnson isn’t looking to elaborate any further either.
In his interview with Empire, Johnson likened Snoke’s presence to that of Palpatine’s in the Original Trilogy, where audiences only knew of his position, power and danger in those films: “We got the whole story of Palpatine’s rise to power in the prequels, but in the original films he’s exactly what he needs to be, which is just ‘The Emperor. He’s a dark force: the scary thing behind the thing. That was entirely how I approached Snoke. I wasn’t interested in explaining where he came from or telling his history, except where it serves this story.”
Some fans might be disappointed they’ll have to wait a bit longer for more answers surrounding the mysterious ruler, but they should be happy with the emphasis Johnson is giving to Kylo Ren in The Last Jedi. As seen in The Force Awakens, Kylo has an obsession with his grandfather, Darth Vader, and is struggling between staying on the Dark Side of The Force or becoming Ben Solo once again.
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This is what Johnson was drawn towards, stating that: “Writing Kylo Ren is just so much fun. Star Wars boils down to the transition from adolescence into adulthood. That’s the heart of these films and Rey is most obviously the one that hangs on. But it’s also Kylo. In the originals you project entirely onto Luke, while Vader is the scary other — he’s the minotaur. The fascinating thing about Kylo and Rey is that they’re two sides of something. We can all relate to Kylo: to that anger of being in the turmoil of adolescence and figuring out who he’s going to be as a man; dealing with anger and wanting to separate from his family. He’s not Vader — at least, he’s not Vader yet — and that’s something I really wanted to get into.”
We’ll have to wait to find out the path Kylo Ren carves for himself this December.
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In Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the Skywalker saga continues as the heroes of The Force Awakens join the galactic legends in an epic adventure that unlocks age-old mysteries of the Force and shocking revelations of the past.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi is set for release on December 14th in the UK and December 15th in the States and sees returning cast members Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Carrie Fisher (Leia Organa), Adam Driver (Kylo Ren), Daisy Ridley (Rey), John Boyega (Finn), Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron), Lupita Nyong’o (Maz Kanata), Domhnall Gleeson (General Hux), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Gwendoline Christie (Captain Phasma), Billie Lourd (Lieutenant Connix), Andy Serkis (Supreme Leader Snoke), Peter Mayhew and Joonas Suotamo (Chewbacca), Tim Rose (Admiral Ackbar), Mike Quinn (Nien Nunb), Simon Pegg (Unkar Plutt), and Warwick Davis joined by new additions Jimmy Vee (Pan) as R2-D2, Kelly Marie Tran (Ladies Like Us) as Rose, and Benicio Del Toro (Guardians of the Galaxy) and Laura Dern (Jurassic Park).
