It’s long been speculated that the character – played by Andy Serkis – would be somewhat deformed or injured in Episode 8, and now the actor himself has spoken about him in detail for the first time.
He told Entertainment Weekly that Snoke is “a very vulnerable and wounded character”, adding: “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.”
Snoke appeared only as a hologram in The Force Awakens, but now we’ll see his “flamboyant” surroundings for the first time.
“You witness his physicality,” Serkis teased. “His body is kind of twisted up like a corkscrew, and so he has limited movement.
“His aggression and his anger is contained and restricted by that physicality.”
His shattered skull and open jaw have very real inspirations, too: “His deformity is very much based on injuries from the First World War, from the trenches,” the actor confirmed.
As for the actual backstory of Snoke – which has been the subject of much discussion in recent years since The Force Awakens was released – it has been hinted by director Rian Johnson that we won’t have many questions answered in the new movie.
The Last Jedi is now just three weeks away and the cast will be appearing on a vast range of TV chatshows in the coming weeks in order to promote it.
Not that it particularly needs extensive promotion: it is already forecast to do exceptionally well at the box office.
Star Wars 8: The Last Jedi is out on December 14 in the UK.