A collection of new photos have surfaced for Lucasfilm’s upcoming Star Wars series, The Acolyte, which shows off the characters that fill the story.
The story is described as “a mystery-thriller that will take viewers into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark-side powers in the final days of the High Republic era.” The High Republic is set 100 years before the Skywalker Saga begins.
In The Acolyte, “An investigation into a shocking crime spree pits a respected Jedi Master (Lee Jung-jae) against a dangerous warrior from his past (Stenberg). As more clues emerge, they travel down a dark path where sinister forces reveal all is not what it seems….”
When previously talking about the series, showrunner Leslye Headland promised that The Acolyte will be “packed” with nods to pretty much every era in Star Wars.
She said: “It’s a show packed with everything I wanted to explore: I wanted EU [Expanded Universe] stuff in there, references to the original trilogy, The Phantom Menace, the Disney sequels… it’s absolutely packed. Because you never know, you may not get the chance again.”
Headland went on to say that they also wanted to honor George Lucas’s camera moves, saying: “[Cinematographer] Chris [Teague] and I talked a lot about honoring George Lucas’s camera moves.
She added: “I would say the original trilogy became our touchpoint for how to craft the world, while the Episode I-ness of the show is a bit more thematic.”
It was also previously shared that the lightsaber battle by The Phantom Menace served as inspiration for the kinds of battles we’re going to see in The Acolyte.
One of the series’ stars, Manny Jacinto, previously teased: “If you loved that sequence with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan and Darth Maul. I think you’re going to enjoy this show.”
In another interview with series star Dafne Keen said thatThe Acolyte hopes to top Darth Maul’s lightsaber battle.
She said: “Yeah, that was a very frequent conversation we had. It was very much: We want to top the Darth Maul fight—the most iconic fight, I think, in the Star Wars cinematic universe.”
She continued: “It’s such an amazing fight and we were all so excited about the saber fights. There’s such a skill and a craft to it that it feels so OG Star Wars and feels so impressive when you see it as a viewer.”
The cast includes Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Jodie Turner-Smith, Rebecca Henderson, Dean-Charles Chapman, Joonas Suotamo, and Carrie-Anne Moss.
The Acolyte will have eight episodes in total, with Headland, Garcia Lopez, and Kogonada directing episodes of the series. It’s set to premiere on June 4, 2024, on Disney+.
