STAR WARS: THE ACOLYTE Cast Teases Epic Lightsaber Fight Scenes and the Show Will Have "a Lack of Guns"

There’s been some interesting information coming out for Lucasfilm’s upcoming Star Wars series The Acolyte. It’s been said that the show will feature more Jedi than we’ve ever seen before in a Star Wars project. It was also explained that this will tell a Star Wars story with no war in it. That means the story will include more intimate individual battles, and those battles will be fought with lightsabers.

While we’re on the subject of lightsabers, one of the greatest live-action lightsaber battles was the "Duel of the Fates" fight when Darth Maul faced off with Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.

It turns out that this lightsaber fight served as inspiration for the kinds of battles we’re going to see in The Acolyte. One of the series’ stars, Manny Jacinto, said in an interview with EW:

"If you loved that sequence with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan and Darth Maul. I think you're going to enjoy this show."

Dafne Keen agreed with that statement saying, "You'll love this,” and fellow co-star Charlie Barnett teased:

"I will say too — not to shade' but we have a lot more tangible physical moves than I saw in that fight. As badass as it is, there's a lot more grounded work that goes into our stunt training and our stunt performances."

Barnett went on to talk about the stunt team and what they’re doing for the show, saying: "We have an awesome stunt team. Doing so much without cables, without CGI, without a lot of effects — it makes the fight seem so much more visceral. Truly. I mean, I know I've been hit on the head a couple times."

Also, with lightsabers being the choice weapon for a Jedi, don’t expect to see a lot of guns in the show. Keen explained:

"I don't know if I'm allowed to say this, but I will just say it. There's a lack of guns, which personally as someone who loves fighting and stunts and stuff, I love. Because it gives you that body-to-body choreography — that dance feeling. It actually looks like a real fight as opposed to just I point and I shoot, which is kind of an easy cop out in a way. We get a lot of that body-to-body."

Keen went on to talk about how visually stunning some of the fight footage she’s seen is, adding:

"We have a lot of the sabers, and Chris Cowan and Mark Ginther and Daren Nop have choreographed all of these wonderful, wonderful stunts in such a beautiful way — it's visually stunning. We watched some stuff the other day and it was just gorgeous. And then we have a bunch of fights as well where there are no sabers where it's just full on. It's also really fun and does look really gritty and real. It feels like a fight."

Well, I can’t wait to see some of this stuff! I like that they going to be doing more hand-to-hand combat in the series! If the fight choreography is actually as awesome as the cast says it is, then Star Wars fans are in for a real treat!

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.

The series was also previously described as “Frozen meets Kill Bill.” You can read some additional details on the series along with a description of footage that was shared here.

The cast for the series also includes Amandla Stenberg (The Hate U Give), Lee Jung-jae (Squid Game), Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix), Charlie Barnett (Russian Doll), Rebecca Henderson (Inventing Anna), Dean-Charles Chapman (1917), and Jodie Turner-Smith (Queen & Slim).

The series will also include The High Republic era character Vernestra Rwoh (Rebecca Henderson), a Mirialan Jedi Knight and a fan-favorite from her appearances in Star Wars books and comics.