Watch ‘Star Wars’ flip the script on the concepts of good and evil in ‘The Acolyte’ trailer
Star Wars may have been absent from the big screen since 2019 and won’t be returning to cinemas until The Mandalorian & Grogu arrives in 2026, but the long-running sci-fi saga is in rude health on the small screen, with the first trailer having released for The Acolyte.
Spearheaded by Russian Doll creator Leslye Headland, based on the footage, it would be safe to surmise the next episodic offering hailing from a galaxy far, far away will be hewing much closer to the subversive precedent set by Andor than the more fan-baiting likes of The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett.
Squid Game breakout star Lee Jung-Jae headlines the ensemble veteran Jedi master Sol, who begins investigating a crime spree that leads him back towards his past, with Amandla Stenberg’s former Padawan Mae having an axe to grind with the order that trained her and shaped her into the warrior she’s become.
Plot specifics beyond that are being kept under wraps, but it certainly seems as though The Acolyte will trade heavily in the dark secrets of the Jedi, with a spate of killings forcing Sol into action to unravel the mysteries contained therein.
Alongside Jung-Jae and Stenberg, The Acolyte‘s high-powered roster also features Carrie-Anne Moss, Jodie Turner-Smith, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, and Margarita Levieva, with Joonas Suotamo getting back into Wookie costume as Kelnacca, having previously replaced the late Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca in the recent sequel trilogy.
The mastermind behind Russian Doll tackling Star Wars is a tantalising prospect, and while the first trailer may paint the picture of yet another standard battle between the Jedi and the Sith, Headland is keen to stress that it’s anything but.
“Whatever you think The Acolyte is, it’s not,” she told the official Star Wars website, with the central conceit promising to flip the script on the standard definition of good and evil users have come to expect. Through Headland’s eyes, “the bad guys are actually the underdog,” with the showrunner promising a “cool reversal” of the formula that’s been a staple of George Lucas’ iconic creation for almost 50 years.
Andor was a shot in the arm that blew away any fears Star Wars was in danger of stagnating under Disney’s stewardship, and it can’t be ruled out that The Acolyte could follow a similar path to adulation and awards season recognition when it premieres on Disney+ on June 4th.
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