Former Disney CEO Bob Iger wasn’t lying when he said The Mandalorian could lead to a number of potential spinoffs, and if anything, he was underselling it after the huge reveals that came as part of the recent Investor Day. The Mouse House signalled that original streaming content was going to become the number one priority moving forward, and Star Wars is unsurprisingly being positioned at the forefront of the impending small screen expansion alongside the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
As well as the inevitable confirmation of The Mandalorian‘s third season, Rogue One spinoff Andor was given a 2022 release, Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni are building out from Mando’s adventures to deliver Rangers of the New Republic and Ahsoka, Hayden Christensen’s Anakin Skywalker was confirmed for Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Bad Batch got a trailer, Lando was announced with both Billy Dee Williams and Donald Glover widely expected to be involved, and The Book of Boba Fett is coming next December.
That’s a whole lot of content, but perhaps the most exciting of them all is the mysterious show The Acolyte. Created by Russian Doll‘s Leslye Headland, the series has been described as a thriller with heavy martial arts elements set during the final days of the High Republic. Lucasfilm promised “shadowy secrets and emerging Dark Side powers,” and we’ve now heard from our sources – the same ones who told us Luke Skywalker would appear in The Mandalorian, as well as Ahsoka Tano, both of which were correct – that the casting search for a young Sheev Palpatine is already underway.
According to our intel, Pennywise actor Bill Skarsgard is reportedly one of the names being eyed for the role, although with Headland previously admitting that The Acolyte will be primarily female-driven, the future Emperor is expected to exist on the margins of the story rather than being a main character. Still, Skarsgard definitely has the chops to play the malevolent and charismatic Sith regardless of how much screen time he gets and we’re certain that fans would be on board with the choice.
