The whos, whats and whys of Supreme Leader Snoke have provided Star Wars fans much to chew over in advance of The Last Jedi. With Disney and Lucasfilm understandably tight-lipped, theories have ranged from him being a corrupted Mace Windu, the legendary Darth Plagueis, the resurrection of Darth Maul or even a reincarnation/clone of Emperor Palpatine himself. But what if ‘he’ wasn’t actually a ‘he’ at all?
The Last Jedi‘s merchandising has already given us a glimpse into some of the aliens we’ll see in the film, but now a Snoke action figure has allowed us to lift those golden robes and reveal… well, a strikingly feminine physique. In this new picture (seen in the gallery below, along with a few other recent promo shots), we can see Snoke’s Kyber Crystal ring, which is apparently set to play a key role in the narrative, as well as some gold slippers and a white onesie featuring capri pants, distinctly feminine hips and a plunging neckline.
If Snoke is a Lady rather than a Lord, it seriously narrows down any returning characters she could be, as there simply aren’t too many prominent women in Star Wars. I guess there’s a minuscule chance she could be Padme back from the dead, her broken heart solidified into hatred against Jedi. But, as fun as having a CGI’d Natalie Portman croak “Kylo… I am your grandmother!” would be, it seems unlikely.
If she’s an original character, it’d be pretty neat for the new trilogy to have a woman as the most powerful being in it, presumably tangling with Rey and maybe mirroring the original films’ father/son narrative with a mother/daughter one. Perhaps Snoke just likes indulging his feminine side a bit, though. And honestly, with the immense power of the First Order behind him, who’s going to tell him (or her) otherwise?
We’ll find out one way or the other on December 15th, when The Last Jedi opens big nationwide.