While kept under wraps for what seemed like years, the “Star Wars” Lucasfilm series “The Acolyte” was finally revealed last month with the first trailer that pulled back the curtain on the series. Created by “Russian Doll” writer/director Leslye Headland, also known for raunchy R-rated comedies like “Bachelorette,” the trailer teased some of its influences, such as “The Phantom Menace” (it’s set 100 years before those events, the but similarities are undeniable), noir-mysteries and little bit of “The Matrix”-style kung-fu action.
And according to a new interview with Empire that reveals some new images from the series, that’s purposeful. “The Acolyte” features “Squid Games” star Lee Jung-Jae as a respected Jedi Master investigating a series of crimes that bring him into conflict with a former Padawan learner, played by Amandla Stenberg (“Bodies Bodies Bodies”) and reveal sinister forces. It’s essentially a kind of murder mystery series only with Jedis.
Also part of the cast is Carrie-Anne Moss, who plays the Jedi Master Indara. And as Headland puts it, all casting illusions to Moss’ bad-ass Trinity character in “The Matrix” were intentional.
“She is very much inspired by Trinity,” Headland told Empire about Master Indara. The showrunner said that casting Moss was a “no-brainer,” and if it means fans see the character as “Trinity with a lightsaber,” well, that’s the intended effect, also coining the term “force-fu” fighting in the process. “I personally wanted to see someone who had the highest status you could imagine in a Force-fu fight—somebody that would come in, and you immediately would be like, ‘Oh, that’s the most powerful Jedi in the room.’ And that’s Trinity,” Headland said.
Moss, for her part, was more than happy to take on the role and described “The Acolyte” as feeling as uniquely special as her times working on “The Matrix” or Christopher Nolan’s “Memento.”
“Within my soul and my spirit, to get to play this Jedi Master and train for the fight was [an] amazing experience,” Moss explained. “A part of me forgot how much I love action. I love it. It’s hard. But I was just really thrilled that I could do it, and I wanted to do it well. ‘Gimme another take! Gimme another take!’”
“The Acolyte” is set at the end of the mostly peaceful High Republic era (again about 100 years before “The Phantom Menace” and Headland says she hoped to connect the two projects by teasing how the Jedi arrived at that downfall period in the George Lucas prequels, Darth Sidious (Ian McDiarmid) was hiding in plain sight all along.
“I was very interested in, how did the Jedi get to where they are in Phantom Menace?” Headland explained. “You’re definitely getting a sense that, with the Jedi, the writing may be on the wall.”
The series, however, differentiates itself with a smaller scale and sense of intimacy. “The quote-unquote ‘war’ of this Star Wars is a much smaller, more personal one,” Headland noted. “The war between people, the war between characters.”
“The Acolyte” premieres June 4, 2024 on Disney+. While we’ve already experienced an official trailer, it’s still a pretty vague, so presumably, Lucasfilm will reveal more closer to the date.