Star Wars May Have Teased [SPOILER] Was Secretly A Skywalker Clone

As far as sci-fi concepts go, "Star Wars" is no stranger to the idea of cloning. After all, this is the franchise with a series quite literally titled "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," and a number of characters who are confirmed to be clones or genetic recreations of other characters, including the iconic bounty hunter Boba Fett. However, a relatively recent "Star Wars" comic hints that yet another major character from the core saga may secretly have been a Skywalker clone all along — and it makes a surprising amount of sense.

In the canon comic "Star Wars: Darth Vader #11," which is set between "Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back" and "Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi," Darth Vader visits his master Palpatine on the planet of Exegol. The issue reveals that Palpatine is in possession of a conspicuous severed hand, which is heavily implied to be the one Luke Skywalker lost in "The Empire Strikes Back." The implication is that Palpatine has been using Luke's hand in his genetic cloning experiments to some extent, giving it a surprising potential connection to the origin of none other than Supreme Leader Snoke from the sequel trilogy.

The identity and origin of Snoke in "Star Wars" was once a viciously debated mystery, but supplemental materials have since confirmed that the dark leader is actually an artificial creation from Palpatine himself. He's one of the various beings genetically crafted by Palpatine on Exegol for the purpose of creating a new vessel to transfer himself into. However, unlike Rey's father Dathan, who is an experimental clone of Palpatine himself, it's never specified if any similar sort of biological blueprint was used for Snoke. Essentially, it's unconfirmed whether he constitutes a clone or not.

If one considers the idea that Luke Skywalker's DNA from his severed hand was used in the creation of Snoke, then a lot of things fall into place. Both the hand and Snoke were involved in Palpatine's cloning experiences on Exegol around a similar timeframe. Furthermore, it makes sense that Palpatine would use the hand as a genetic basis for cloned vessels, as Skywalker's latent power and Force-sensitivity would serve as the ideal template for a healthy, strong new vessel for Palpatine to inhabit.

There's a surprising bit of precedent in legacy "Star Wars" works for the idea of a Palpatine-created Skywalker clone. In "Legends" continuity, Palpatine actually crafts a genetic clone of Luke from his severed hand into a being known as Luuke Skywalker. While the idea of a second Luke running around the canon universe seems unlikely at this point, the precedent of Palpatine using Luke's hand for cloning is there. Perhaps it's only a matter of time until a new "Star Wars" project confirms just how exactly the Sith Lord has put the hand to use.