After Star Wars: The Last Jedi received criticism for killing off Snoke before the character’s backstory was explained, The Rise of Skywalker attempted to make things right by revealing the Supreme Leader to be a genetically engineered puppet of Emperor Palpatine.
The last-minute retcon was a divisive move in itself, partly because of how quickly The Rise of Skywalker brushes over this twist in the film’s opening minutes. But as Age of Resistance – Supreme Leader Snoke writer Tom Taylor recently pointed out via Twitter, Snoke’s 2019 spinoff comic briefly foreshadowed this development a few months before the movie’s release.
In a series of panels from the Snoke comic, the Supreme Leader and his apprentice Kylo Ren journey to Dagobah where Kylo soon feels the presence of his uncle Luke still lingering. In response, Snoke remarks that “one of the most formidable Jedi began his training here,” leading Kylo to ask him why he speaks of Luke with such respect.
When Snoke argues that Luke has earned his fear and respect, Kylo dismisses his uncle as “weak,” prompting Snoke to reply that he is not weak, but only “misguided.” He then elaborates further on his thoughts with this telling comment:
“If I had your uncle by my side instead of you, the galaxy would have been mine a long time ago.”
Though most readers would’ve thought little of these words at the time, Snoke’s claim that the galaxy would’ve been his “a long time ago” takes on a whole new meaning when you consider that the Supreme Leader was merely a mouthpiece for the Emperor.
In the end, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker had very little time in its exceedingly busy plot to delve into the origins of Snoke. But given all the films and Disney Plus shows that Lucasfilm currently has on the horizon, don’t be surprised if Andy Serkis’ character some day gets the development that a certain corner of the fanbase has been pushing for all this time.