It was a no-brainer to assume that Andy Serkis's character in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" will be motion-captured, and now that belief has been confirmed.

Legendary photographer Annie Leibovitz spilled the beans during an interview with StarWars.com, where she discussed her photo shoot with actors from the flick for Vanity Fair's recent "Force Awakens" cover story. Leibovitz talked about the photo that Vanity Fair published of Lupita Nyong'o, whose character is also the result of motion-capture, and shared a shot of Serkis similarly rigged up with motion-capture trackers covering his face.

While the image, which you can see in full below, is dark and menacing -- Serkis is serving up a serious death glare -- we still don't know much about the character. But one detail that's now been supplied is his name: Supreme Leader Snoke.
It's a strange moniker, to be sure, and doesn't exactly reveal much, other than the implication that he's a villain. (Noble titles certainly worked well for Lord Vader and Emperor Palpatine, after all.) But we're going to have to wait a few more months to know for sure.

"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" hits theaters on December 18.

[via: StarWars.com]

Photo credit: Getty Images; StarWars.com/Annie Leibovitz for Vanity Fair