There’s a lot to love about the Star Wars franchise; its culture-defining impact on cinema, its penchant for over-the-top fun, and, as we saw with Andor, a potential to not only deviate from the type of story that it’s used to telling, but to go above and beyond with such deviations.
It’s that latter trait that sounds most likely to define The Acolyte, the upcoming Disney Plus series set 100 years before the events of The Phantom Menace. The series will follow a former padawan, played by Amandla Stenberg (Bodies Bodies Bodies), who finds herself delving into a Sith-tinged criminal underworld with her Jedi instructor at her side, the two of them hoping to solve a string of mysterious crimes in the twilight of the High Republic era.
It certainly sounds like it has that thriller premise that Andor delivered on all those months ago, but star Jodie Turner-Smith, in an interview with ScreenRant, was adamant that The Acolyte will offer up a side of the Star Wars mythos that we’ve never seen before.
“I can tell you that what Leslye Headland has done inside of this IP is unlike anything that we’ve seen before from Star Wars. And I got to play a really amazing, powerful character who I’m really proud of, and under the guidance of one of my favorite directors Kogonada in these two episodes. You are going to see something really amazing.”
It’s high praise from Turner-Smith, and judging by The Acolyte‘s impressive cast list, which includes Lee Jung-Jae (Squid Game), Manny Jacinto (The Good Place), and Dafne Keen (Logan), it’s safe to say it has the tools to do such praise the proper justice.
We’ve still got a way’s to go before it hits our Disney Plus queues, with Ahsoka and Skeleton Crew set to serve up that brand of Star Wars content in the meantime, but considering how much of the promotional spotlight it’s been taking in comparison to those two, it sounds like The Acolyte is shaping up to be the next big Star Wars series. Remembering what happened last time the franchise dipped into thriller territory, it sounds like faith well-placed.
Published: Apr 5, 2023 03:53 am