New Cast and Plot Details Revealed for Star Wars’ The Acolyte

New Star Wars series, The Acolyte, is in production as new cast members and plot details are revealed.

The world of Star Wars is a massive one. From numerous feature films, including the original trilogy franchise, a prequel trilogy, and a sequel trilogy, to series such as The Mandalorian, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor, and Boba Fett on Disney+, the world of Star Wars is continuing to expand with the addition of the newest series in the saga, The Acolyte.

The Acolyte takes place at the end of the High Republic period and is set in a world of, “shadowy secrets and emerging dark side powers.” It takes place about 100 years before the events of 1999’s Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.

The mystery-thriller, as Deadline reports, will follow a former Padawan who, “reunites with her Jedi Master to investigate a series of crimes, but the forces they confront are more sinister than they ever anticipated.”

The first actress announced to be a member of the cast in July 2022 was Amandla Stenberg, from the film, The Hate U Give. In addition, more cast members had been announced in September including Lee Jung-Jae from Squid Game, Manny Jacinto from The Good Place, Jodie Turner-Smith from The Last Ship, and Charlie Barnett from Russian Doll.

Finally, in November, additional cast members were confirmed to join the series, including Dafine Keen from His Dark Materials, Rebecca Henderson from Inventing Anna, Carrie-Anne Moss from Marvel’s Jessica Jones, and Dean-Charles Chapman from Game of Thrones.

A photo was also released, as reported by TVLine, of Jung-Jae and Stenberg on the set of The Acolyte as production is currently underway in the United Kingdom. In the photo, they are speaking with Leslye Headland of Russian Doll fame, the showrunner, executive producer, and creator of the series. The series looks to serve as a precursor to the prequel trilogies.

The series has been developing since April 2020, when Headland was attached to the project as showrunner for a new, “female-centric series that takes place in a different part of the Star Wars timeline than other projects” for Disney+. Headland was confirmed to be the showrunner on May 4, 2020, Star Wars Day.

An interesting aspect of The Acolyte is that its writing room consists of writers who have varying relationships with Star Wars, whether they’re a fan of the original trilogy, Dave Filoni’s projects such as The Mandalorian, or not previous fans of the series, which allows for a more universal approach to bringing the story to life and to wider audiences.

Lucasfilm had released books focused on the High Republic era and wanted to present a series, unlike other Star Wars stories that were shown from the villain’s perspective. This point in the Star Wars timeline was selected because the villains were outnumbered at that point in time and were considered the underdogs.

While the story is in the same universe as the main trilogies, it focuses on events that happen in a different time period that had not been previously explored.

Questions that may come up when viewing the Skywalker Saga may be answered, such as Emperor Palpatine’s ability to infiltrate the Galactic Senate. What went wrong to make it a point that a Sith lord can infiltrate the Senate and the Jedi are unable to notice it?

Martial arts films served as an inspiration for the series, along with a sleek and futuristic aesthetic to produce the look and feel of the show reminiscent of the prequel trilogy, which appeared almost more advanced than the look of the 20th-century Skywalker trilogy.

The Acolyte looks to be an exciting new look at the world of Star Wars and with the series currently in production, its release can’t come soon enough. The series will be released on Disney+.