It wouldn’t beStar Warswithout the rumor mill. AsRogue One: A Star Wars Storyheads for release next weekend, Lucasfilm should start to roll out the early marketing forStar Wars: Episode VIIIin late January or February, so as not to overshadow the first-everStar Warsspinoff film. It’ll likely begin with a title reveal or teaser poster of some sort, but if a new rumor is to be believed, onceEpisode VIIIarrives one of theForce Awakenscharacters will be looking quite different.
The folks over atMakingStarWars.netclaim that Supreme Leader Snoke, played byAndy SerkisinForce Awakens, was brought to life via practical effects inEpisode VIII. This is markedly different from his appearance inThe Force Awakens, which was accomplished using motion-capture technology. Granted we only ever saw Snoke as a hologram, but the motion-capture allowed Serkis’ performance to shine through whileJ.J. Abrams’ design team could run wild with the character’s facial scarring.
But MakingStarWars claims that for at least part ofEpisode VIII, Snoke will be brought to life via a seven or eight foot-tall puppet, operated by several people to get him to walk.
So will Snoke be a practical creature inEpisode VIII? Was this “puppet” simply a stand-in so the other actors had some scale when performing scenes with Snoke? Will this go the Unkar Plutt route, with practical effects digitally altered in post-production? We have no idea.
On the one hand, I could totally see directorRian Johnsonwanting to bring even more practical effects into theStar Warsfold, especially since the design of Snoke was less-than-imposing inForce Awakens. But if the character is replaced by a practical effect, wouldn’t that provide a jarring disconnect betweenEpisode VIIIandForce Awakens? I suppose sinceForce AwakensSnoke was a hologram you could argue we haven’t seen his true form yet, but holograms are pretty accurate when it comes to likeness. Moreover, we know fromDawn of the Planet of the ApesandWarcraftthat mo-cap technology is able to create fully relatable, realistic creatures while maintaining the actors' performance. Why the need to switch to a puppet now?
So some of this doesn’t entirely add up. If I had to guess I’d say the puppet was being used for scale on set, and portions of itmayend up in the finished film, but I’d be surprised if Snoke was completely replaced by a fully practical creature.
As for who Snoke really is, that’s a question that remains unanswered (but didn’t stop us from speculating).
