Stills of two of the most enigmatic characters in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" have been released. Posted by Entertainment Weekly, the released first stills of Maz Katana and Supreme Leader Snoke give "Star Wars" fans a better look into the two beings who are rumoured to be the most powerful characters in the latest trilogy.
At first look, the barkeep Maz Kanata may not seem to promise much given her size and apparent old age. She is seen to be the Yoda of the new instalment, bringing wisdom and clarity to the character of Rey, who is the main lead of "The Force Awakens." Max is played by "12 Years a Slave" Oscar-winner and first time performance-capture actor Lupita Nyong'o.
And then there is sinister Supreme Leader Snoke, the sith lord who wins over Kylo Ren and restores the empire that is now called the First Order. Snoke is played by Andy Serkis, the face behind Gollum in "The Lord of the Rings" and Caesar in "Rise of the Planet of the Apes."
Serkis says that, just like the many fans who were dying to see what the new Sith ruler would look like, he too was unaware of what Snoke would look like until the release of "The Force Awakens."
"It's the first time I've been on set not yet knowing what the character's gonna look like. I mean, talk about secrecy!" said Serkis in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. ""When we first started working on it, he had some rough notions of how Snoke was gonna look, but it really hadn't been fully-formed and it almost came out of discussion and performance."
A Reddit leak shares a theory that Snoke came from the Yuuzhan Vong race, a highly religious alien species that were known to be one of the very few beings that were undetectable by the Force.
"The Force Awakens" marked Nyong'o's first performance-capture work, but she was not without help as Serkis, who is most well-known for his CGI work, coached the actress. Episode VIII of "Star Wars" is set to debut in May 2017.
