Star Wars: The Acolyte is an upcoming television series created by Leslye Headland starring Amandla Stenberg and Lee Jung-jae in the lead roles. The series is set at the end of the High Republic era before the events of The Phantom Menace. The cast also includes Dafne Keen, Jodie Turner-Smith, Manny Jacinto, and more.
The upcoming series follows a former Padawan reuniting with her Jedi Master to investigate a series of crimes. But to their surprise, what they encounter is far more sinister than what they had expected. Fans are excited about the series, which is scheduled to premiere in June 2024 on Disney+. Leslye Headland talks about how long she had waited to tell this story and dwells upon the casting of the show.
Star Wars: The Acolyte to explore the story before the events of The Phantom Menace
In her interview with EW, creator Leslye Headland ahead of the trailer’s launch shared that she had waited long enough to share an underdog story, which explores the rise of red-light saber-wielding baddies. She said,
“I really wanted to tell a story about the Sith. That was kind of my dream Star Wars idea. But it felt like the time period to do that in would be something pre-Phantom Menance. That seemed to be the most interesting trajectory for the Sith.”
Star Wars: The Acolyte is going to be the first to showcase the galaxy’s peacekeepers at the height of their powers. The story has only been explored in the Star Wars books and comics as of now. Amandla Stenberg plays Mae, a former padawan, and talking about her character the creator explained that she wanted to center her story on a morally gray protagonist. She adds,
“I loved the idea of a character that was unknowable in her goodness or badness. Strategically, my costume designer Jennifer Bryan and I talked about how George Lucas utilized color and how purple was a color you didn’t see very often. Palpatine wears it, but it’s that idea that blue and red make purple.”
The trailer showcases Stenberg facing off against Jedi played by Carrie-Ann Moss and the creator explained that she wanted to show elements of wuxia martial arts and the classic samurai films. She praised the actress and noted that she was too fast while performing her scenes and they had to ask her to slow down.
Lesley Headland talks about getting Dafne Keen on board for Star Wars: The Acolyte
During her conversation with EW, Lesyle Headland talks about other cast members including Jodie Turner-Smith, Dean-Charles Chapman, Charlie Barnett, Dafne Keen, and more. She went ahead to explain,
“Charlie, I worked with on Russian Doll, and I was like, ‘We have to get Dafne, period. I just wanted to see X23 with a lightsaber in their hand. That has to happen.”
In her conversation with IGN, Headland did not hold herself back from praising the actress who plays Jecki, a bi-species human/alien hybrid in the series. The creator of The Acolyte noted that she wrote the character of Jecki with X-23 in mind;
“And then, somebody like Dafne Keen, I’d loved so much in Logan that, I wrote this character, and I was like, ‘you know what would be great, I’d love to see X-23 with a light saber. How do we make that happen?”
The actress had spoken to ComicBook.com last year, where she had given fans a little tease about how her character would look on-screen. She mentioned at the time that it’s almost like David Bowie meets Star Wars noting she has a little mullet and horns.
Star Wars: The Acolyte starts streaming on Disney+ on June 4th, 2024.
