I agree with you there that I don’t believe the things we saw in the tanks were a direct reference to snoke, I think it was just showing us the empire was involved in trying to create beings with the blood/tissue of force sensitives.I noticed that. They’re both 2 loose references though. I viewed The objects in the tanks as more of a general midichlorian reference. I’m hoping they don’t make any direct ones. That trilogy almost ruined Star Wars for me
I for one was not a big fan of the sequels, I think if JJ Abrams directed the whole trilogy it might have been better but who can say lol.