Following Empire's The Acolyte-themed cover reveal yesterday, the movie mag has shared two new promo stills along with quotes from showrunner Leslye Headland.
The first image spotlights several of the show's Jedi characters as they prepare to face-off against a mysterious threat (the red lightsaber-wielding individual from the trailer, most likely), while the second gives us another look at Amandla Stenberg as the enigmatic Mae.
Is she the acolyte of the title? Possibly, but it sounds like there may be a twist or two in this Star Wars tale.
“It’s a lot more complicated than that,” Stenberg explains. “Which is the point of the show. Hopefully, if we did our job right, the show makes it an interesting interrogation into what it means to be on the light side or the dark side.”
Headland elaborates, revealing that the title was inspired by Expanded Universe lore (which is no longer considered canon).
“It’s a position, essentially, that someone is going to fulfil, or step into. We know with the Sith that there is a Master, we know that there is an Apprentice. But in deep EU [Expanded Universe], there’s a concept of an Acolyte, which is underneath Apprentice. So that is where I got the title from.”
“It’s one story with several reveals, and new clues and new information each episode,” she continues. “It’s not just a mystery that you have to find out. It’s not unlike Russian Doll. It’s almost like a spiral — it digs deeper and deeper and deeper.”
Check out the new stills below.
The Acolyte will take viewers into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark-side powers in the final days of the High Republic era with the story of former Padawan who reunites with her Jedi Master to investigate a series of crimes but discovers the forces they confront are more sinister than they ever anticipated.
The series also stars Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Jodie Turner-Smith, Rebecca Henderson, and Dean-Charles Chapman. The Acolyte comes from creator and showrunner Leslye Headland (Russian Doll), who also serves as executive producer alongside Kathleen Kennedy, Simon Emanuel, Jeff F. King, and Jason Micallef. Charmaine DeGraté and Kor Adana are the co-executive producers, and Rayne Roberts and Damian Anderson are producing.
The next Star Wars TV series will premiere on Disney+ on June 4.