Star Wars exclusive: Last Jedi director Rian Johnson responds to THOSE Snoke theories

Johnson had already written Episode 8 of the saga before its predecessor, 2015’s The Force Awakens, had been released – so nothing in it was influenced by fan reactions or demands for certain characters.

Among the most hotly-discussed topics were Rey’s parentage, and the backstory behind villainous Supreme Leader Snoke.

Speaking to Express.co.uk ahead of the movie’s release on DVD and Blu-ray, Johnson said: “Not that I did many [online] deep dives, but I was aware of a lot of them [theories].

“And when I wasn’t aware of it at all was when I was writing it – because I wrote it before The Force Awakens came out, and none of these theories were around.

“I was writing what made sense to me story-wise coming out of the last movie.

“So when this movie came out and a lot of people, who had spent a lot of time coming up with their own pet theories, thought that I was aware of them and was purposefully poking them in the eye… not the case at all.”

The truth of Snoke’s fate turned out to be a big shock for many fans – and consider this a spoiler warning.

The character, played by Andy Serkis, met a surprisingly early demise at the hands of his own apprentice, Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) – leading to some mild outrage amongst die-hard fans.

Asked if he was bracing himself for potential backlash when he saw how popular Snoke discussion was, Johnson admitted: “A little bit, but at the same time, it’s not like it was anything that I was like, ‘hmm’… because I deeply believed, and still believe, Snoke is explained the amount he needs to be explained.

“He’s like the Emperor in the original trilogy. I think the place for all the theorising is exactly where it is: which is online.

“It would be weird if we dug into his backstory, because the movie is not about him.”

The Last Jedi was a big box office success, becoming one of the biggest movies of all time upon its theatrical release late last year.

Now, Johnson moves his attention to his own new Star Wars trilogy, which will come out once the current set is wrapped up with the release of Episode 9 in 2019.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is out now on DVD and Blu-ray.