It was just Disney Coping retcons, not for artistic merit, thus I don't see it as legitimate.
Still don't know who, what, or why he is
Austin James
Asher Morgan
The entire trilogy has very little merit. It's still the retcon the story went with. Anakin being a Chosen One was a stupid retcon, but it's still what we get told in the prequels. The only difference is that Anakin being Darth Vader was a retcon that actually enriched the story.
Eli Davis
Anakin being the chosen one isn't a retcon, it's adding more information to the story rather than changing something that was already true. Making Sheev still alive after we were told he was dead is a retcon.
Sebastian Wood
Snoke should have been one of Palpatine's advisors.
Also, the First Order and the Imperial Remnant should be separate factions or, at most, uneasy allies.
The First Order are Dark Side acolytes and Palpatine loyalists who survived the destruction of the 2nd Death Star and the final stages of the Galactic Civil War. Snoke leads the First Order which is organized as a Dark Side cult venerating the Emperor, Darth Vader and ancient Sith. Much of their goals focus on recovering lost Sith knowledge. Ben Solo was a promising student of Luke Skywalker, but was turned by Snoke. Perhaps they use the Force to imitate Vader/Anakin, deceiving Ben.
The Knights of Ren could be the martial arm of the First Order, or they could be a separate group. There was an opportunity with these guys to come up with a variety of force powers or distinctive fighting styles. Sadly, little was done with them.
(Sidenote: I really don't like the idea of Dark Side Force ghosts. Ascending into a force ghost should only be possible for someone who is deeply enlightened and uninhibited by emotional attachment and ambition. The equivalent for dark side users should be a harsh refusal to die. Literally keeping themselves alive by shear willpower or cheating death through other means).
Oliver Hernandez
The Imperial Remnant are made up of Admirals, Generals, Governors and Moffs who survived the war and reorganized under a military Junta. They are explicitly anti-Force user, light or dark side. They remember being under the yoke of Palpatine, Vader and their various Hands/Inquisitors and are determined to not be ruled in that way again. In addition to standard military units, they field specialized teams of highly trained and equipped, cybernetically enhanced commandos who can go toe-to-toe against members of the various Force-using sects that have sprung up after the dissolution of the Empire.
Elijah Brooks
>it's adding more information to the story
So is "The Emperor is actually alive! Snoke was the Emperor!" and "I lied Luke! Vader is your dad!" Admittedly the Emperor's survival is sort of glossed over in TROS, but it doesn't make it fundamentally different. They're both still retcons.
Henry Carter
A puppet that Disney tried to hype for nothing
Caleb Walker
Snoke was a mystery box. That's it.
Lincoln Evans
Based as fuck but this is might be too complicated to your Disney fan
Anthony Butler
Why Snoke