Supreme Leader Snoke is a dark side user, but Star Wars: The Last Jedi star Andy Serkis has confirmed he is not a Sith Lord. For most of the Skywalker saga, the Sith have served as the primary antagonists, with the prequels covering Palpatine’s rise to power and the original trilogy depicting the fall of the Empire. However, for the sequels, the filmmakers decided to take things in a different direction by making the villains something new. Troubled youngster Kylo Ren is referred to as the “master of the Knights of Ren,” implying that the Sith were never restarted in the 30 years after the Galactic Civil War.


Still, with the abundance of Snoke fan theories, many were convinced he was an ancient Sith Lord. A popular hypothesis around the time of The Force Awakens was that the Supreme Leader was really Darth Plagueis, Palpatine’s former master who allegedly found a way to cheat death (before Sheev murdered him). That was shot down by Lucasfilm brass before it gained too much traction, and as it turns out, Snoke is not aligned with the Sith at all.


In an interview with Empire, Serkis shared what he could about Snoke’s nature, reiterating previous comments he’s made the Supreme Leader’s pure hatred and vulnerability. He also officially confirmed what some had already suspected: Snoke is not a Sith. In addition to the quote, the magazine shared an exclusive new image, which you can see below:


“Snoke is bloody dark; way darker than Palpatine. He’s riddled with this osteoporosis so his body’s twisted, like a corkscrew. He’s incredibly damaged, so there’s a bizarre vulnerability about him. Beneath that vulnerability, though, is this intense hatred… He’s definitely not a Sith, but he’s certainly at the darker end of the Force. Without giving too much away, that begins to unfold a little in this one.”