Supreme Leader Snoke is one of the most mysterious characters to have emerged from the Star Wars sequels. First seen in The Force Awakens as a towering, intangible force of nature, we were dying to know more about the apparent new "big bad" on the block.
Of curse when Snoke showed up again in The Last Jedi, he was a decrepit old dude who Kylo Ren ended up dispatching with ease. The fans did not like that.
Any official information pertaining to Snoke's backstory has all existed outside of the films, but the answers are there for anyone who cares to seek them. For example, it was recently confirmed that the Supreme Leader was indeed a clone of the original trilogy's Emperor Palpatine. But one of the sculptors who worked on the new Star Wars films has now confirmed another popular Snoke theory.
Ivan Manzella, who designed and sculpted Snoke in The Force Awakens, revealed that the villain was indeed modelled after the late, great Peter Cushing, who played Grand Moff Tarkin in A New Hope.
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"JJ [Abrams] mentioned a Hammer 'House of Horror' doll. So I based him on Peter Cushing... when I did the maquette, there are elements in the cheekbone and profile," Manzella said on the Force Material podcast. "It wasn't meant to be Cushing, but he was my Hammer reference."
Fans desperate to find any meaning in Snoke have long remarked that the Supreme Leader's sharp cheekbones and jagged facial structure resembles Cushing, so it's nice to see that the classic Star Wars bad guy was an inspiration after all. If not canonically, then at least in terms of design.
In The Star Wars Book, released earlier this year, it was revealed that Snoke is a "failed clone" of Palpatine who carried out the Emperor's bidding. Why? It's not really explained. Then again, very few things in the sequel trilogy were.
Featured Image Credit: DisneyTopics: Star Wars