The High Republic is the newest time period of Star Wars, and so far we’ve only really been able to discover it through books. Fortunately, the first look at Star Wars: The Acolyte, a crime series set towards the end of the Republic’s greatest days, at Star Wars Celebration 2023 is here to solve that. That was also evident from this first look The Acolyte is scheduled to release in 2024 and stream on Disney Plus.
Creator Leslye Headland (Russian doll) and the series’ cast introduced some of the show’s footage to the congressional audience, which brought to the fore the “many Jedi” which Headland said was one of the most appealing features of the High Republic era for her as a creator. The images also highlighted The Acolyte‘s wuxia style martial arts, reminiscent of movies like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. In one shot that satisfied the audience, seven Jedi, led by Lee Jung-jae’s character, unleashed their lightsabers in unison.
Headland said she went back to George Lucas’s original inspirations for Star Wars, including Akira Kurosawa, when designing the show. The Hidden Fortress And Yojimbobut also classic kung fu movies from Shaw Brothers like Come drink with me And touch of zen.
“I really wanted to immerse myself in the Star Wars universe and tell the story of this world I love so much from the perspective of the bad guys… So what I pitched to Kathleen [Kennedy, Lucasfilm president] used to be Frozen meets Kill BillLandland said. “What became clear was that we had to set this up between the High Republic and the prequels – because back then the bad guys were outnumbered.” It’s the farthest back in the Star Wars timeline we’ve ever been in live action, Headland confirmed.
Headland – a fan since childhood, who wrote Star Wars fanfiction – said it had always been her dream to have a Wookiee Jedi master, and she was walked onto the stage by the character in costume. The Wookiee’s name is Kelnaka.
The Acolyte will wrap up filming in May in London ahead of its 2024 release on Disney Plus.
Star Wars: The Acolyte stars Amandla Stenberg, Dafne Keen (Logan), Lee Jung-jae (Squid game) and Manny Jacinto (Top gun: Maverick). The series was first announced in 2020, before the High Republic even debuted in the Star Wars canon. Since then, the novels and comics have delved into the period, but this series is the first time we see this era in live action.