J.J. Abrams Considered Making One of The Force Awakens’ Biggest Baddies a Woman

SPOILERS INCOMING. OF COURSE. 

io9 has a super-fun post up right now on early ideas or scenes that didn’t make it into The Force Awakens, as learned from the new book The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

In addition to originally featuring space pirates and a villain called “The Jedi Killer” (v. v. subtle), io9 writes that The Force Awakens‘ big baddie, Supreme Leader Snoke, was at one point going to be written for a woman:

They were toying with ways to make the main villain less like the Emperor, and J.J. Abrams didn’t want Snoke to be old and decrepit like Palpatine. And at one point, they almost made Snoke female.

Not only is it interesting to learn that The Force Awakens almost had a female Force-sensitive baddie, but the fact that Abrams had the freedom to experiment with Snoke’s gender implies that Snoke is less likely to be, as as some fans have speculated, Palpatine, Darth Maul, or another previously-introduced major character in an altered form. (Sorry, Jar Jar Snoke truthers.)

It’s also a fascinating insight into the re-drafting process to hear that Abrams was concerned Snoke would seem like a rehash of Palpatine. There were times when the similarity between the two took me out of the moment briefly, but I personally felt that the way Snoke was depicted visually in The Force Awakens was compelling and original enough to compensate for any thematic repetition. I also have honestly been too excited and emotional to think very critically about the plot in both my viewings, which I think is a pretty solid endorsement.

What say you, friends? Would you have liked to see Snoke done differently?

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