Leslye Headland has officially made her mark on the Star Wars mythos, with her flashy-yet-mysterious brainchild The Acolyte having debuted its first two episodes on June 4. And, if the first 80ish minutes of this show is any indication, we’re in for a pretty top-notch ride.
Indeed, so far, The Acolyte has established that it has a firm grasp on what made Star Wars pop way back in its early days, all while introducing a healthy dose of strong storytelling instincts that don’t clash too severely with the space opera ethos of yore.
The cherry on top? It has little to no interest in using tacky nostalgia to keep its gears turning, even if one of the franchise’s cinematic regulars has been teed up to take center stage with the rest of The Acolyte‘s main cast.
Who is Kelnacca in The Acolyte?
For those of you who don’t yet know, Joonas Suotamo—who portrayed Chewbacca in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Solo: A Star Wars Story, and in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker—will be returning to the fray as Kelnacca, a Wookiee Jedi being hunted by Mae.
From what little we know of him, Kelnacca leads a pretty quiet life, but was once part of a Jedi team who was sent to Brendok, the home planet of Osha and Mae. Judging by the cryptic guilt that came out of Master Torbin’s mouth in the second episode (Torbin was also part of the aforementioned Jedi team), it sounds like Mae’s reasons for hunting Kelnacca aren’t entirely unjustified, and perhaps the Wookiee’s preference for solitude is part of a larger attempt to cover up what went down on Brendok.
With any luck, we’ll inch tantalizingly closer to the truth of this character and his mysterious past in later episodes of The Acolyte, which will release every Tuesday on Disney Plus until the season finale on July 16.
