Manny Jacinto Reveals a “Brutal” Deleted Scene From THE ACOLYTE That Showed His Sith’s True Darkness
At Denver Fan Expo, The Acolyte star Manny Jacinto revealed that one particularly intense moment showcasing his character’s viciousness didn’t make the final cut.
Jacinto played Qimir, a seemingly chill, wine-sipping rogue who’s ultimately revealed to be a deadly Sith assassin known as The Stranger. While he already gets his hands bloody in Episode 5, there was originally a scene that pushed his brutality even further. Jacinto said, via Screen Rant:
“Star Wars has always been PG, but you want to find some brutal aspects of these fights… There was one moment, I think, where I just take one Jedi and keep slamming his head on to a rock, because we wanted to show how brutal this guy could be, without any remorse,”
That’s a level of violence we’ve rarely see in Star Wars. The moment likely would’ve been part of the episode where he cuts down a squad of Jedi who corner him in the jungle. Even without the extra head-smashing, that lightsaber brawl was already one of the most vicious in the frnachise.
While The Acolyte drew plenty of conversation online, it ultimately struggled with viewership, despite being Disney+’s second most-watched series of the year. The show was canceled after just one season, which pissed a lot of fans off.
The cast included Amandla Stenberg in a dual role as Osha and Mae, Dafne Keen as Padawan Jecki, Charlie Barnett as Jedi Yord, Carrie-Anne Moss as Master Indara, and Lee Jung-jae as Master Sol. Rebecca Henderson and Jodie Turner-Smith also played key roles, with Leslye Headland (Russian Doll) creating the series.
According to cinematographer Chris Teague, the team stayed grounded in Lucas’s vision during production: "Leslye would always say, 'What would George do? What would George think?' And that was our guiding principle."
As for what’s next in the galaxy far, far away, The Mandalorian & Grogu is heading to theaters next May, and Ahsoka Season 2 is also expected to drop sometime in 2026.