New Story Details Revealed for Lucasfilm's STAR WARS: THE ACOLYTE Series
Some interesting new details have surfaced regarding the story for Lucasfilm’s upcoming Disny+ series, The Acolyte. The first footage of the series debuted last year during Star Wars Celebration London, and it got fans pretty excited about what this series is going to deliver.
The footage leaked at one point and a description of it started making the rounds online after it was removed. It caused some confusion about some actors seemingly playing different roles than earlier reports had indicated. We now have an explanation for that thanks to this new information that has come to light.
Though there are no major reveals here, I just want to throw out a spoiler warning. These details come from movie industry scooper Daniel Richtman, and he is saying that both Amandla Stenberg and Manny Jacinto will play two different characters.
It's explained that Stenberg will be playing Force-sensitive twins and both are of Sith origin. One of the twins will remain with the Sith, while the other will be taken by and trained by the Jedi.
The story is said to follow the “evil sister” as she becomes a Sith Assassin, who is tasked with taking out a Jedi Master, who is played by Carrie Anne Moss.
Moss’s character is a Jedi warrior who is known to defeat her enemies without using her Lightsaber, so the Sith assassin vows to learn martial arts and kill the Jedi Master only using her hand-to-hand combat skills.
As for Jacinto's characters, it’s explained that he will play "both versions of his own character. One good personality, one bad." Not much more information was shared for the character.
Showrunner Leslye Headland has previously stated that The Acolyte will dedicate a lot of screen-time to "the antagonists, and described it as “Frozen meets Kill Bill.” She shared the that story will be told from the perspective of the villains and is set between the High Republic and the beginning of the prequel trilogy, “because this is when the bad guys are outnumbered.”
The series was described as a “spiritual war,” and it includes conflict between siblings, and parents, as well as a conflict between a master and an apprentice. It was reiterated the project is very much inspired by samurai films. It has been said to focus on the emergence of the Sith, a group of Dark Jedi set on conquering the galaxy. The '“acolyte” term has been used in the Star Wars universe to describe soldiers for the powerful Sith Lords.
Star Dafne Keen later revealed that the series will focus on The Sith "infiltrating" the Jedi. She said: “No, I mean, as you know, it’s set 100 years before the prequel movies, and it’s kind of an explanation of how the Sith infiltrated the Jedi. It’s a Sith-led story, which has never been done before. It’s been really fun to film – the cast is amazing, and the director and crew are just lovely. The whole experience is wonderful, and I’m already excited for people to see it.”
This story is set in the High Republic era, and 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. A former Padawan reunites with her Jedi Master to investigate a series of crimes, but the forces they confront are more sinister than they ever anticipated." The series takes place 100 years before the franchise’s prequel trilogy. The High Republic era is known as the Golden Age of the Jedi, a time when the ancient order was at its peak.
I’m actually kind of excited about this series and the story it will tell. I hope that the creative team delivers a great, fun, and smart Star Wars adventure!
The cast for the series also includes Lee Jung-jae (Squid Game), Manny Jacinto (The Good Place), Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix), Charlie Barnett (Russian Doll), Rebecca Henderson (Inventing Anna), Dean-Charles Chapman (1917), and Jodie Turner-Smith (Queen & Slim).