Star Wars: The Acolyte Discusses EU Influences and the Focus on Villains

For the most part, the heroes we’ve seen and played in Star Wars have been nice individuals attempting to make the galaxy a better place in some manner, or at the very least, find their own place in it.

Be it an endless battle, a magical cult, or individuals concerned with doomsday weapons and cloning, the major conflicts have always pitted our heroes against almost insurmountable odds. The Acolyte, one of the franchise’s future Disney+ shows, is shaking things up by making the malevolent Sith the protagonists of its plot.

Acolyte creator Leslye Headland discussed her aims for the series with Vanity Fair for its cover article on all things Star Wars. The new series would (possibly) feature Amandla Stenberg during the age of the High Republic, which is now the focus of multiple books and comics. It will be set 100 years before the Prequel Trilogy. The lure of this largely unexplored period in Star Wars history led Headland to the show.

The Jedi were at their greatest during the High Republic, and the Republic was dedicated to performing Great Works to benefit the broader galaxy. But, as serene as it appears, Headland understood the Sith’s climb to power had to begin somewhere, and her programme would examine how they exploited the Republic’s weaknesses.

She said, “The High Republic is so golden in so many ways,” added, “What are we turning a blind eye to that could lead to the rise of somebody like Palpatine about a century later? Yes, it’s one bad guy, but it’s one bad guy that completely undermines the entire system of government … you can’t just end up with George [Lucas]’ Phantom Menace situation if everything is going well.”

It’s unclear whether areas of the EU will be included, but Acolyte provides Headland plenty of room to operate with. While she is under pressure to make her show spectacular, she also has a lot of leeway, given that dealing with heritage characters in this brand may be a gamble.

Headland chuckled, “There’s too much iconography and intensity with those particular characters … I think I’m telling a story that’s more about a timeline we don’t know much about. Let’s hang out here for a little bit and check out what Star Wars looks like when the good guys are actually in charge. What happens? We know what it eventually leads to, so let’s explore. What are the holes that we can poke into what happened?”

Disney+ will release Star Wars: The Acolyte in 2023.

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