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Tag: The Acolyte

  • A New Hope—Leslye Headland Open to ‘The Acolyte’ Season 2 Return

    A New Hope—Leslye Headland Open to ‘The Acolyte’ Season 2 Return

    The weather in the Star Wars universe might be constantly shifting, but Leslye Headland isn’t closing the door on the High Republic just yet. Following the sudden and highly publicized cancellation of The Acolyte back in 2024, the showrunner has dropped a new wave of comments that have fans making an immediate appeal to Lucasfilm’s creative brass.

    In a brand-new profile published by Empire, Headland made it clear that despite the online vitriol and the streaming bubble burst, she is still completely down to bring her dark side narrative back to Disney+.

    While Lucasfilm famously opted not to move forward with a second season due to dwindling viewership against a massive production budget, Headland revealed the show has been experiencing a noticeable streaming resurgence and a shift in public perception.

    “I would still want to do it! Absolutely,” Headland told Empire. “As more people discover it, I think people may want to see some form of the story come back… I’m having a resurgence of The Acolyte in my real life. I speak with people who are really big fans, and were disappointed in the cancellation.”

    Season 1 ended on a series of massive, cliffhanger lore-drops—including the physical reveal of Darth Plagueis lurking in the shadows and Jedi Master Yoda’s looming complicity in a High Republic cover-up of the massacre at Brendok.

    Had a renewal come through, Headland shared that her long-term plan was designed to act as a direct narrative runway into the sequel trilogy.

    Season 2 would have delved further into the backstory of Qimir/The Stranger (Manny Jacinto), diving deep into his fractured relationship with Jedi Master Vernestra Rwoh. It would have also focused on the dangerous web of Sith lineage between The Stranger, his new apprentice Osha, and his ultimate master, Darth Plagueis.

    “We did have a lot of stuff that we wanted to explore, including tying in lore to the sequels,” said Headland. “Getting into who exactly Manny’s character is, his connection with Vernestra, his connection with Plagueis, and then his connection with other sequel-established things.“

    The Acolyte still holds the unfortunate milestone of being the first live-action Disney+ Star Wars show to be out-and-out publicly canceled by the studio, a decision Headland admitted surprised her with its “swiftness,” making her willingness to return to the sandbox shows an immense amount of creative resilience. The Acolyte took bold, unprecedented structural risks by showcasing a fundamentally flawed Jedi Order and centering the emotional narrative around an active Sith dynamic. Leaving Darth Plagueis as a one-frame cameo feels like a massive disservice to the broader tapestry of the saga.

  • Divisive Star Wars Streaming Series Returns to D+ Top 10, Reigniting New Hope for Season 2

    Divisive Star Wars Streaming Series Returns to D+ Top 10, Reigniting New Hope for Season 2

    In a move that absolutely no one saw coming on the 2026 bingo card, The Acolyte is officially trending again.  Two years after its controversial debut, the High Republic Era series has unexpectedly re-entered the Disney+ Top 10 most-viewed shows, currently sitting at #9.

    This isn’t a random spike. The massive success of Maul-Shadow Lord has created a High Republic/Sith Origin hunger. Fans are reportedly bingeing the series to find connections to Maul’s lineage and the live-action debut of Darth Plagueis.

    Re-entering the Top 10 two years later is a rare feat. If the numbers hold through Star Wars Day, Lucasfilm might finally be incentivized to wrap up the Plagueis/Tenebrous threads that were left hanging. While a Season 2 renewal remains a long shot, the data might force Lucasfilm to finally address those unresolved cliffhangers in a Marvel-style Special Presentation or comic.

    Steeped and connected in the mythology of Star Wars yet independent of anything that’s come before it, The Acolyte was Disney’s boldest storytelling effort to date within the franchise as it looks to redefine itself. Series creator Leslye Headland revealed plans for a second season, including an arc that would make Yoda complicit in Vernestra Rwoh’s cover-up of the massacre at Brendok.

  • Scrapped ‘Acolyte’ Season 2 Would Have Portrayed Yoda as a “Villain”

    Scrapped ‘Acolyte’ Season 2 Would Have Portrayed Yoda as a “Villain”

    Just when you thought the discourse around The Acolyte was cooling down, Leslye Headland has thrown a thermal detonator into the room.

    Headland confirmed that had the show been grantedba second season by Dave Filoni and his Jedi council, Yoda wouldn’t have been portrayed as the Grand Master savior fans expected. Instead, he would have been complicit in Vernestra Rwoh’s cover-up of the massacre at Brendok.

    According to Headland, who revealed the plan on The George Lucas Talk Show, the move would be consistent with Yoda’s behavior as seen in the Clone Wars, referring to the Jedi Council’s occasional moral flexibility during the war; however, applying that to a pre-war era where the Jedi were at their peak is a move that would not have sat incredibly well with one of the world’s most consistently displeased fandoms.

    For sure. Yeah. Don’t come at me in the comments, because he does it in Clone Wars. So I don’t want to hear about it.

    -Leslye Headland

    Headland’s comments  confirm that despite being set during The High Republic, The Acolyte was never interested in the  Golden Age of the Jedi. It was always about the rot and showing that it had taken root in the Order long before the beginning of The Skywalker Saga.

  • What To Expect From the Future of the Star Wars Universe and When to Expect It

    What To Expect From the Future of the Star Wars Universe and When to Expect It

    What’s next for Star Wars? Who’s recently joined the cast of your most anticipated series or film? Where can you find the teasers and trailers? Look no further, true believers. Everything you need to know about the future of the Star Wars universe has been collected for you here. Click on each logo to learn what we currently know about the upcoming Star Wars projects.

  • Disney Pulls the Plug on Lucasfilm’s High Republic Era Series, ‘The Acolyte’

    Disney Pulls the Plug on Lucasfilm’s High Republic Era Series, ‘The Acolyte’

    For the past few years, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy has remained steadfast in her belief that for Star Wars to thrive, the franchise needs to move away from Skywalker-centric projects. Though she’s called that mission “vital” and eschewed an adherence to George Lucas‘ original outline for the franchise, it’s proven difficult to cut the cord. Indeed recent streaming efforts such as The Mandalorian and Ahsoka have both featured appearances by Skywalkers despite also attempting to blaze their own paths in the New Republic era. However, the franchise’s latest streaming offering, The Acolyte, set out to provide a brand new entry point for fans by telling a story with no connectivity to the Skywalker Saga despite being steeped in the familiar mythology and themes of the Star Wars franchise.

    I think it is vital. Just staying within the construct of George’s storytelling, to keep chipping away at that, I think would be wrong. It’s our job to step away now, but still have a connection to the mythology that George created. That won’t stop. But we are moving on from the Skywalker saga. That’s what’s taking a lot of time, discussion, and thought right now.

    -Kathleen Kennedy, Vanity Fair 2022

    Series creator Leslye Headland–a lifelong Star Wars fan who described her love for the franchise as “existing on a cellular level”–put together what I called the” boldest storytelling effort to date within the franchise as it looks to redefine itself” in The Acolyte. The series came out of the gate strong but interest waned greatly down the stretch and, to no one’s surprise, became the target of online ridicule. Despite the social media buzz, Headland’s series showed promise late and she remained optimistic that more opportunity to continue the story of the series’ main characters would present itself. And now we know how that worked out.

    According to Deadline, Disney has pulled the plug on the High Republic-era series, choosing not to move forward with a second season of The Acolyte.
    (L-R): Mae Aniseya (Amandla Stenberg) and Osha Aniseya (Amandla Stenberg) in Lucasfilm’s THE ACOLYTE, season one, exclusively on Disney+. ©2024 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.

    With that, the stories of sisters Mae and Osha Aniseya, Darth Teeth, Darth Plagueis and, of course, the intrepid tracker, Bazil, will be lost to time.

    Source: Deadline, Vanity Fair

  • ‘The Acolyte’: Exploring the Mystery Planet’s Connections to the Sith

    ‘The Acolyte’: Exploring the Mystery Planet’s Connections to the Sith

    Episode 6 of The Acolyte, “Teach/Corrupt”, may not have been the most action-packed of the series and it really didn’t do much to further the plot of the series. That doesn’t mean the latest installment of Lucasfilm’s newest Star Wars series didn’t have something to offer to the overall mythology of the galaxy far, far away.

    With both Master Sol and The Stranger seeing through the Parent Trap swap fairly quickly, the episode slowed down considerably compared to the previous installment which was as action-packed as Star Wars has ever been. “Teach/Corrupt” split time with the Aniseya twins and their swapped masters and while Mae and Sol still have some things to work out, The Stranger’s time with Osha was indeed revelatory. Together on an “unknown planet”, The Stranger begins his seduction of Osha, intending to have her replace her sister as his acolyte. As the two spend time in his bad-guy lair, The Stranger works to repair his helmet which Jecki damaged in the last episode. For the first time in Star Wars canon, the metal used to build the helmet, cortosis, is named and its properties are explained as it becomes apparent that the “unknown planet” is rich with the valuable metal. And as interesting as The Stranger’s tale of his time as a Jedi is, the island has been at the center of much of post-episode discussion and it turns out it may not truly be unknown.

    While some fans believed the island planet may have been Ahch-To, showrunner Leslye Headland dismissed the idea while keeping the name of the planet a secret. However, some fans have come to believe that the planet has already appeared in Star Wars canon in the novel Darth Plagueis. Published in 2012, the canonical novel by author James Luceno tells the story of Sleepy Sheev Palpatine’s Sith Master, Hego Damask, aka Darth Plagueis. In that novel, Plagueis killed his own Master, Darth Tenebrous, on an ocean planet rich with cortosis ore. That planet, Bal’demnic, clearly has a whole lot in common with The Stranger’s “unknown planet” and given that The Acolyte is set about 65 years before Plagueis killed Tenebrous on Bal’demnic, it’s entirely possible that the first season of the series is setting the stage for that part of the Sith’s history to ultimately be told should the series be renewed.

  • ‘The Acolyte’: The Stranger’s Unique Anti-Jedi Defenses Explained

    ‘The Acolyte’: The Stranger’s Unique Anti-Jedi Defenses Explained

    Episode 5 of The Acolyte, “Night”, stands among the most violent Star Wars content ever put to film. Picking up right on the heels of the Episode 4 cliffhanger, “Night” brings the Jedi face-to-face with Mae’s mysterious master in the jungles of Khofar where The Stranger proves more than a formidable foe. While taking on multiple members of the Jedi landing party and dispatching Plo Koon wannabe Jedi 1, The Stranger showcases an interesting pair of defensive maneuvers that leave a couple of Jedi defenseless and in shock.

    While engaged in lightsaber combat with Jedi 2 and (presumably) Jedi 3, The Stranger first uses a metal gauntlet and then his helmet to deflect and short out the Jedi’s weapons. Though the effect is short-lived and the Jedi’s sabers ultimately do reignite, it’s the first time anything of the sort has been seen in a live-action Star Wars project though it does have its place in Star Wars canon.

    The Identity of The Stranger’s Anti-Jedi Defenses

    Though “Night” showcased the mysterious metal in live-action for the first time, the substance has been part of Star Wars lore for more than two decades. The Stranger’s gauntlet and mask are composed of a rare metal known as cortosis. First appearing in the now non-canon novel I, Jedi, cortosis made its way into canon in 2014 in the pre-Rebels era novel, A New Dawn. Despite not having been seen onscreen before, the use of cortosis has a long history in the galaxy far, far away and, perhaps unsurprisingly, that history is deeply tied to the Sith.

    Who is The Stranger?

    After holding his own against Sol, Darth Teeth found himself on his heels when Jecki Lon entered the battle. Though Jecki was able to knock his helmet off, The Stranger quickly dispatched of the Jedi. As her body slumped to the ground, his face and identity were revealed to Sol. Though the revelation that Manny Jacinto‘s Qimir was Mae’s mysterious master wasn’t much of a surprise, his decision to reveal himself as a Sith to Master Sol was. Explaining that he sought the “freedom to wield his power the way I like“, Qimir then shared that he sought “a pupil…an Acolyte,” presumably to follow Darth Bane’s Rule of Two. Finding Mae lacking after her betrayal, Qimir risked discovery by the Jedi in order to kill her. And, as he explained to Sol, now that the Jedi were aware of his existence, they must all die as well.

    The Era of the Sith, the Null Blade and The Rule of Two

    Interestingly enough, cortosis ties together the past and present of the Sith…and we already know what their future holds. For nearly 4,000 years near the end of the Old Republic era, the Sith were the dominant force in the galaxy. In an effort to end the Era of the Sith, a dark side cult known as the Ascendant crafted a blade of cortosis. Known as the Null Blade, the weapon proved capable of shorting out Sith lightsabers. Though it ultimately proved ineffective in taking out the Sith, itremained part of canonical stories into the years between the events of A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. Despite the Ascendant’s failure to destroy the Sith, the group’s lust for power began to turn them against each other and allow the Jedi to defeat them. At this point, around 1032 BBY, the Sith Lord Darth Bane instituted the Rule of Two which and began a lineage of Masters and Apprentices that lasted until the end of the Sith in 4 BBY when Vader turned on Palpatine and killed his Master.

    Two there should be. No more, no less. One to embody power, the other to crave it.

    -Darth Bane’s Rule of Two

    Given that The Acolyte is set 100 years before the events of The Phantom Menace, it’s clear that Qimir himself had a Master from Bane’s lineage. Throughout the series–and especially in Episode 5–Qimir has shown himself to be incredibly knowledgeable about the Jedi Order. It should then be no surprise that he’d also be incredibly knowledgable about the history of the Sith and the role of cortosis in it. In addition to taking advantage of the properties of the metal to disrupt the Jedi’s weapons, Qimir also seemingly used the metal to help keep the Jedi from accessing his mind, adding a new canonical property to the substance.

    Qimir has proven himself to be quite resourceful throughout the series and while there are plenty of questions coming out of Episode 5 (primarily about the true story of what went down on Brendok), possibly the most intriguing questions are whether or not the identity of Qimir’s Master will be revealed and whether or not they are still among the living.

  • REVIEW: ‘The Acolyte’

    REVIEW: ‘The Acolyte’

    Since Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012, the studio’s projects, both film and television, have been unevenly received by Star Wars fandom. It’s been eight and a half years since the nostalgia-driven Episode VII-The Force Awakens launched the Disney Star Wars era and in that time, segments of the fandom moved from a sense of uncertainty and unrest to vocal and volatile about the direction of the franchise. Almost echoing the history of the Jedi Order itself, Star Wars fandom experienced the First Great Schism when Episode VIII-The Last Jedi hit theaters. As fans grew increasingly displeased with the further exploration of the Skywalker Saga and the themes originally developed within it by George Lucas, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy recognized a need to move away from the Skywalkers and the outline of The Maker. However, even as the ascension of heir to the empire Dave Filoni began as Disney Plus allowed for more stories to be told through streaming series, it seemed hard to break away from the addiction to the Skywalkers. Even as the Creative Grand Admiral of Lucasfilm’s Star Wars division, Filoni‘s projects continued to feature Skywalkers as Luke made an appearance in The Mandalorian and Anakin in Ahsoka.

    I think it is vital. Just staying within the construct of George’s storytelling, to keep chipping away at that, I think would be wrong. It’s our job to step away now, but still have a connection to the mythology that George created. That won’t stop. But we are moving on from the Skywalker saga. That’s what’s taking a lot of time, discussion, and thought right now.

    Kathleen Kennedy, Vanity Fair, 2022

    While the desire to connect each new project to the brand’s most recognizable names can be easily understood–especially since so many of the key creatives currently working on Star Wars projects grew up as fans of the brand–it remains a cord that has to be cut. Enter Leslye Headland. Like Filoni, Headland is a lifelong fan of the franchise who describes her love for Star Wars as existing on a “deep cellular level.” And, like Filoni, she has grown into adulthood pondering, meditating on and dreaming about the galaxy far, far away. And now, in The Acolyte, Headland gives fans a brand new entry point into that galaxy that allows fans to engage with the same themes and concepts that Lucas made central to Star Wars but in an all-new era of stories that does not depend on the Skywalkers or, so far, even a passing familiarity with their stories. Steeped and connected in the mythology of Star Wars yet independent of anything that’s come before it, The Acolyte is Disney’s boldest storytelling effort to date within the franchise as it looks to redefine itself.

    I just love Star Wars—I always have. Every time I’m asked the question ‘what is your fandom like?’ or ‘what do you love about Star Wars?’, it’s difficult for me to answer because I love it on a deep cellular level. I almost think Star Wars has been a part of my personality since I can remember.

    -Leslye Headland
    (L-R): Mae (Amandla Stenberg) and Master Sol (Lee Jung-jae) in Lucasfilm’s THE ACOLYTE, exclusively on Disney+. ©2024 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.

    Set at a time in the High Republic era that precedes the events of Episode 1-The Phantom Menace by a century, The Acolyte represents a daring new direction for Star Wars. And through four episodes, it blazes the trail that the franchise sorely needed. Headland‘s intrepid exploration of the High Republic is ripe with thematic parallels upon which Lucas built the foundation of the franchise and toys with the expansion of the mythology similar to Filoni’s work. However, The Acolyte is singular in that outside of the briefest of cameos that casual viewers will never recognize, Headland does it all with a new cast of characters who are incredibly easy to like from jump street.

    As the franchise sputtered through the sequels, Kennedy believed the future depended not only on moving away from the Skywalkers but also on allowing talented creators to expand the Star Wars sandbox beyond Tatooine and to tell character-driven stories. The Acolyte succeeds on both counts. While it’s billed as Star Wars-noir, it tells a Star Wars tale as old as time that explores the duality of good and bad and centers around relationships. At the center of the story are twins, Osha and Mae, and Jedi Master Sol, whose history with the twins allows Headland to explore flaws inherent in the Jedi Order. Within the first four episodes of The Acolyte, the dynamics of the Jedi–who are at their peak during the High Republic–reveal the beginnings of the cracks in the firmament that ultimately allow for their fall. Star Amandla Stenberg‘s transition between twins Osha and Mae is smooth and effortless and among the franchise’s best in years and Lee Jung-jae’s compassionate Sol joins the ranks of the Jedi Order’s most loveable Masters.

    We’re not defined by what we lose; we’re defined by what we survive.

    -Jedi Padawn Jecki Lon

    Despite the Great Schism, Star Wars lives on and as Jedi Padawan Jecki Lon shares with Osha, “we’re not defined by what we lose; we’re defined by what we survive.” The Acolyte stands as a wonderful example of survival and adaptation. It’s an all-new era of Star Wars with no keepers standing at the gate and no background necessary to enjoy. It delivers one of the franchise’s most beautifully shot episodes to date in Episode 3, many of its most interesting new characters in what seems like forever and some of the best-looking action sequences ever shot in the galaxy far, far away. The screener package left us at one helluva cliffhanger but should the second half of the series deliver on the promises made in the first, The Acolyte will become the first step in a new direction the franchise sorely needs.

    Sources: Vanity Fair,

  • First Reactions to ‘The Acolyte’ Give the High Republic Series High Praise

    First Reactions to ‘The Acolyte’ Give the High Republic Series High Praise

    Lucasfilm’s latest Star Wars streaming series, The Acolyte, premiered in London on May 23rd, with attendees having the opportunity to see the first two episodes. Meanwhile, select journalists were sent a screener package that included the first four episodes. After the screening, fans and critics took to social media to share their initial reactions to the upcoming show.

    The High Republic Era Kicks Off with a Bang

    The Acolyte provides Star Wars fans with the first live-action look at the High Republic era, a time when the Jedi were at their zenith as protectors of the galaxy and the Sith were long since believed to be extinct. Long-time media personalities such as Screen Rant’s Joseph Deckelmeier and Peter Sciretta felt the new setting provided a fresh perspective on the galaxy far, far away.

    Star Wars Noir

    Star Lee Jung-jae, who plays Jedi Master Sol, said The Acolyte fits into the “detective genre.” For several critics, the noir nature of the series was a highlight.

    The Cast Carries the Show

    While maybe not quite on the same scale as Game of Thrones, the main cast of The Acolyte is fairly large. While it’s sometimes tough on an audience to have so many characters to get to know, it sounds as though the great writing by showrunner Leslye Headland has made that quite a bit easier.

    The first two episodes of The Acolyte debut on Disney Plus on June 4th.

  • New Stills from ‘The Acolyte’ Reveal Margarita Levieva’s Character

    New Stills from ‘The Acolyte’ Reveal Margarita Levieva’s Character

    As part of their Star Wars Day celebration on May 4th, Lucasfilm released a second trailer for the upcoming Disney Plus streaming series, The Acolyte. While much of the buzz around the new look at the project centered around the reveal of an apparent Sith Lord–likely the series’ big bad–it also gave the audience its first look at Margarita Levieva, though you’d be forgiven if you didn’t catch her right away.

    (L-R): Mother Aniseya (Jodie Turner-Smith) and Koril (Margarita Levieva) in Lucasfilm’s THE ACOLYTE, exclusively on Disney+. ©2024 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.

    According to a pair of stills published after the Star Wars Day trailer for the series, Levieva is playing a female Zabrak named Koril. Her cranial horns would seem to establish her as an Iridonian Zabrak rather than being from the segment of the population that relocated to Dathomir. Koril is seen to be part of the mysterious coven of witches led by Jodie Turner-Smith’s Mother Aniseya who “value their independence and the preservation of their beliefs and powers.”

    Levieva was cast in the project in December 2022 in what was reported by Deadline to be a guest role.

    About Star Wars: The Acolyte

    In Star Wars: The Acolyte, an investigation into a shocking crime spree pits a respected Jedi Master against a dangerous warrior from his past. As more clues emerge, they travel down a dark path where sinister forces reveal all is not what it seems….

    The series stars Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Jodie TurnerSmith, Rebecca Henderson, Dean-Charles Chapman, Joonas Suotamo, and Carrie-Anne Moss.

    Leslye Headland created the series, based on Star Wars by George Lucas, and serves as an executive producer along with Kathleen Kennedy, Simon Emanuel, Jeff F. King and Jason Micallef. Charmaine DeGraté and Kor Adana are the co-executive producers. Rayne Roberts, Damian Anderson, Eileen Shim and Rob Bredow are the producers.

    Headland also directed the premiere episodes (Eps. 101 & 102). Directors Kogonada (Eps. 103 & 107), Alex Garcia Lopez (Eps. 104 & 105) and Hanelle Culpepper (Eps. 106 & 108) round out the directing duties on the series.

    Award-winning composer Michael Abels, known for his work on Get Out and Us, scored Star Wars: The Acolyte.

    The thrilling, suspenseful live-action series launches on Tuesday, June 4, with the first two episodes, exclusively on Disney+.