Star Wars Celebration 2023 is here, and the content and news are flooding in. With numerous trailers and announcements, the future of Star Wars looks bright. However, for The Acolyte, it looks like it is about to get dark. The Acolyte is based in the High Republic, 100 years before the beginning of the prequel trilogy, and follows the emergence of the dark side into the world.
During the Lucasfilm panel, showrunner Leslye Headland joined to share some details and debut footage of the show, which has not been shared to the public. Here is everything you need to know!
New era, new tone
The Acolyte serves as fans’ introduction to the High Republic in live action. This will lead to a completely different and exciting viewing experience for audiences. During her presentation, Headland promised fans will see and experience “things we’ve never seen in live action before.”
In order to make this story stand out and emphasize how unique it is, Headland promises to bring a new tone and set of influences to the show. She describes it as a “Frozen meets Kill Bill” type of series. I don’t know about you, but this sounds incredible. To add to this, she said The Acolyte has heavy samurai influence.
This type of combat mixed with lightsabers and the force almost feels like a dream come true for viewers, as the action in this show could be unmatched. Fans got a brief taste of what this could look like in 2021’s Star Wars: Visions, the second season of which is set to premiere May 4, 2023.
The Jedi golden age
With this series taking place during the High Republic, it will feature the golden age of the Jedi; and you can’t have the golden age without some cool new Jedi. So, to keep the hype building for the show, Headland brought out the newest member of the Jedi family—Wookie Jedi Kel Naka!
Naka will be played by Chewbacca actor Joonas Suotamo (The Last Jedi, Solo, Rise of Skywalker)! He joins an already stacked cast featuring Amandla Sternberg, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, and Dafne Keen.
In this panel, we got some new footage featuring Lee Jung-Jae leading a group of Jedi, officially revealing his character for the series. The former Squid Game star confirms that he is a Jedi Master and will serve as opposition to the show’s main characters.
Darkness is coming
Even with all these great announcements, the highlight of this panel is the debut of new footage from the show. Along with the clip of Jung-Jae’s Jedi Master character, audiences at Star Wars Celebration London got to see a first look at Amandla Stenberg’s character in action. Sternberg, best known for her roles in The Hate U Give and Bodies Bodies Bodies, showed off her love for Star Wars by showing up in a phenomenal Padmé Amidala cosplay!
The footage caps off with a quote emphatically stating, “This isn’t about good or bad. This is about power and who is allowed to use it,” teasing some themes of the show before announcing a release date in 2024. The Acolyte joins Andor season two as Star Wars’ 2024 Disney + releases, setting up an exciting year of content for Star Wars fans.
It’s about power
Every announcement or tease that is given for The Acolyte only continues to build the hype for this show. It’s distinctiveness and ability to give us something completely new in the Star Wars universe is terrifically exciting. It has been a decently long time since a Star Wars project introduces to so many characters in a completely new period. These new will bring will be a nice breath of fresh air for the franchise, while delivering a new section of the universe with which to play around.
Are you excited about The Acolyte? Let me know on Twitter, and make sure to check out Fandom Academy and the Agents of Fandom socials for all Star Wars Celebration 2023 news!
