Who Is Snoke In Star Wars & Why Was His Death More Important Than You Think?

Since the tumultuous days of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, Snoke (Andy Serkis) remains one of the franchise's most infamous villains, but not in the way Lucasfilm would prefer. Although the theories about the Supreme Leader's true identity are a relic of the past, many fans still see Snoke as a massive disappointment. However, his death proved extremely important to the sequel's story.

To understand the repercussions of his death, fans must first understand the man — or, should we say, artificial life form? Snoke is a genetic Strand-cast artificially created by Emperor Palpatine and his Sith cultists on Exegol. He's not quite a clone, nor is he an independent entity. Star Wars finally set the record straight about Snoke, revealing that while he has free will, Sidious more or less influences his actions. Unlike other Strand-casts, Snoke possesses a natural Force-sensitivity, making him strong enough to control the First Order and teach Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) as his apprentice.

Snoke's most significant moment comes through his death at the hands of Kylo Ren. With the apprentice murdering his master, Ren ascends to new levels of strength, fully submitting to the dark side of the Force. According to the Rule of Two, there can only be two Sith Lords coexisting, and Snoke's death allows Palpatine to bypass the tradition of the apprentice killing their master.

Outside of dying so that Kylo Ren can achieve his full potential, Snoke doesn't do much in his limited screen time in the Star Wars sequel trilogy. If he had his way, Andy Serkis would flesh out the character if given the opportunity, showing there's more to the Supreme Leader than being destined for death.

"I don't think we've seen enough Snoke," Serkis told Jake's Takes, stating he'd love to pick Star Wars creator George Lucas' mind on his sequel trilogy villain. "I think people would love to see more Snoke and really kind of infill the lore behind Snoke because I think there's so much fertile ground that's yet to be covered."

While it seems unlikely that Lucasfilm ever backtracks to expand Snoke's story, given how poorly received the sequels were with audiences, fans can never entirely rule out future projects from shining new light on the once Supreme Leader. With Star Wars firmly exploring the New Republic era on Disney+, which eventually leads to the Rise of the First Order, Snoke could theoretically appear before the stories of "The Mandalorian" and "Ahsoka" wrap up for good, leading directly into the events of the sequels. Emperor Palpatine created Snoke during the reign of the Galactic Empire, meaning he's somewhere out in the galaxy during Lucasfilm's Disney+ series. Still, the question of whether he'll ever return may be just as big of a mystery as the villain himself.