The Acolyte showrunner Leslye Headland says the upcoming Disney+ series will have plenty of references to other Star Wars projects.
Speaking with Total Film, Headland discussed how The Acolyte, which premieres this June, will reference a number of other Star Wars projects and eras.
“It’s a show packed with everything I wanted to explore: I wanted EU [Expanded Universe] stuff in there, references to the original trilogy, The Phantom Menace, the Disney sequels… it’s absolutely packed,” Headland said. “Because you never know, you may not get the chance again.”
Headland also compared the series to Netflix’s Russian Doll, which she co-created with Natasha Lyonne and Amy Poehler.
“The Acolyte is a mystery,” she said. “It’s similar to Russian Doll, which was really about giving the audience information episode by episode, this spiral of storytelling…This is a much larger landscape, but it similarly tackles the idea of ‘your eyes can deceive you’. You’re going to think the show is one thing, but then it’s going to gearshift into something else, and then do it again.”
What is The Acolyte about?
“An investigation into a shocking crime spree pits a respected Jedi Master against a dangerous warrior from his past,” the synopsis for the series reads. “As more clues emerge, they travel down a dark path where sinister forces reveal all is not what it seems…”
Set approximately 100 years before the events of Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace, The Acolyte stars Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Jodie Turner-Smith, Rebecca Henderson, Dean-Charles Chapman, Joonas Suotamo, Carrie-Anne Moss, Margarita Levieva, Amy Tsang, and Abigail Thorn.
The first two episodes of The Acolyte will premiere on Disney+ on June 4, 2024. The following six episodes will be released weekly on the streaming platform.
