The Acolyte (live action series set in The High Republic era) - a general discussion thread — Page 3

Rodney-2187 said:

ZkinandBonez said:

Has there been any official statement about the exact year in the canon that this show will take place? It just occurred to me that since Yoda is in the High Republic books, and will appear in the Eclipse game, he might also make an appearance in this as well. Frank Oz is still alive and well, and he’s already returned as both voice actor and puppeteer in TLJ (and of course there’s Grogu as well), so maybe we’ll get to see a younger Yoda in live action?

I think it’s said to be near the end of the High Republic era, so not long before The Phantom Menace I would guess. The term “acolyte” combined with the slashed logo gives me Sith vibes. I know it’s said in TPM that the Sith have been gone for a millennium, but we all know they weren’t truly gone. They say “keep yout friends close, and your enemies closer.” Maybe they were closer all along than anyone expected. Can’t wait to find out more.

Well, if it’s within a century or so it could always be about a failed apprentice of Plagueis before he eventually discover Palpatine on Naboo. If it’s within a few centuries before TPM then I suppose it could just as well tell the story of someone before Plagueis.

Is the term Dark Jedi still canon? The ST did give us non-Sith darksiders so I suppose there’s plenty of options here either way. I do like the Sith cultist idea that was mentioned earlier, reminds me of Tavion in Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy or Exar Kun in the Tales of the Jedi comics.

Either way though, it sounds very likely that we might get to see a younger Yoda, which I think would be really cool.

ZkinandBonez said:

Either way though, it sounds very likely that we might get to see a younger Yoda, which I think would be really cool.

This hadn’t even occurred to me. It’s unlikely if the series is set closer to The Phantom Menace than Light of the Jedi, but getting to see this version of Yoda would be amazing:

Either way, just getting to see Yoda in live action again will be great. I hope it’s achieved using a puppet again - I thought that worked very well in TLJ.

Anakin Starkiller said:

Guess who’s back

Back again

ImperialFighter said:

A few snippets of info. on this particular ‘backstory’ -

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/05/the-acolyte-star-wars-series?utm_source=twitter&mbid=social_twitter&utm_brand=vf&utm_social-type=owned&utm_medium=social

This part sounds great from that High Republic interview…

What are some of your cinematic influences for the show?

“Jon Favreau said that when you’re working in this world, you want to go back to what George was inspired by. There were Westerns and then of course, Akira Kurosawa samurai films, and the fact that he originally offered Obi-Wan Kenobi to Toshiro Mifune. So I actually went more toward martial arts films, and storylines that are a little bit more personal and less global and galactic. Those warriors were on missions that were deeply personal, with people feeling wronged and having to make it right.”

Although a bit concerned Disney may go all team female with agendas to tick off on the project and it ends up becoming something else from this quote from the director of shows Russian Doll, Single Drunk Female, and the movies Bachelorette and Sleeping With Other People…

What can you share about how The Acolyte originated?

“I was pitching with Kathy Kennedy and we were developing this with [Lucasfilm development execs] Michelle Rejwan, and Rayne Roberts, who was like my main gal on this project. She was the person that literally found me and shepherded this idea all the way up to the top. We were really getting into it, and what’s so exciting about those [influencing] stories is that you don’t always know exactly who the bad guys are and who the good guys are. You’re not quite sure whether you can trust the heroine in this case as a result of that. Honestly, my pitch to Kathy was the first time that everybody in the room was a woman. I’ve done many of those types of pitches and I was like, ‘This is trippy that my big [intellectual property] meeting is all ladies.’ That was pretty cool.”

Anakin Starkiller said:

Sirius said:

I always have the impression that Kathleen Kennedy cares more about girl power than understanding star wars as a whole.

You know, sometimes it’s hard to tell what’s a genuine intention she’s expressing when making the thing and what’s just marketing buzzwords. She could easily just be talking girl power to drum up hype with wokeys without actually factoring it into the creative process. It’s like when a company changes their logo to be rainbow colored for “Pride Month” (which itself is a disgustingly consumerist concept). It’s not a political stance, it’s “Look, we’re just like you! Buy our product!” I think the same can apply here. They talked up the “diversity” of the Rogue One cast big time in the lead-up to its release, for example. Just ignore the marketing buzz.

I agree. I think it’s just marketing rhetoric. They wouldn’t talk that way unless they thought it was advantageous to do so.

The Acolyte series cast revealed - https://www.starwars.com/news/the-acolyte-original-series-cast-revealed

“The Acolyte is a mystery-thriller that will take viewers into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark-side powers in the final days of the High Republic era.”

I don’t know what to expect for this series, but I do like the above description.

And I hope it will have similar world building, attention to detail, set design, cinematography and a high quality production that Andor has.

I have the same good feeling about The Acolyte that I had about Andor. It has creative leads who are very acclaimed for non-SW work, and everything I hear about their approach to making the show makes me optimistic. Funnily enough Andor and Acolyte are probably the two Star Wars Disney+ shows that general audiences have heard about the least, but I feel like they’ll end up being the two best - maybe by a long shot.

Perturbator said:

I’d prefer if this winds up focusing on the development of the rule of 2 and therefore possibly revolving around the rise of Darth Bane and the fall of the Brotherhood of Darkness due the outcome of the Jedi-Sith War.

I wish it was Bane and Zannah, alas it will not be. Old EU is only honored in re-publications right now.

Fan_edit_fan said:

I don’t know why anyone has their hopes up on this show…given the track record of their writers recently. But I guess even I hope it’ll be cool. 🤷‍♂️

It is all relative, but as this show is in its own timeline, doesn’t have Filoni working on it, isn’t a crossover show, does not much fan service to include, is using real sets and locations as opposed to the Volume, and that Headland has a good reputation going on her previous work, I do have my hopes up a bit. They are not high hopes.

If it is anywhere near approaching the quality of Andor; production, writing, characters, acting, compelling storylines, risk taking, having something to say that resonates, even the use of sound and things like that, then I’ll be happy.

Christ, that is a low bar in modern Star Wars, isn’t it? Those things should be the minimum expected.

Sideburns of BoShek said:

Fan_edit_fan said:

I don’t know why anyone has their hopes up on this show…given the track record of their writers recently. But I guess even I hope it’ll be cool. 🤷‍♂️

It is all relative, but as this show is in its own timeline, doesn’t have Filoni working on it, isn’t a crossover show, does not much fan service to include, is using real sets and locations as opposed to the Volume, and that Headland has a good reputation going on her previous work, I do have my hopes up a bit. They are not high hopes.

If it is anywhere near approaching the quality of Andor; production, writing, characters, acting, compelling storylines, risk taking, having something to say that resonates, even the use of sound and things like that, then I’ll be happy.

Christ, that is a low bar in modern Star Wars, isn’t it? Those things should be the minimum expected.

Fair point, this is not Filoni project, and the director I hope goes into depths of the dark side in Coppola Dracula 1992 way.

henzINNIT said:

The Acolyte has long been my low-key most anticipated SW project. Headland is a more interesting hire than those out of the Mandalorian factory; and likewise the time period is more interesting than ‘right next to the OT’

… granted. Expectations are still low, but Andor was solid stuff so these can work out occassionally.

I wish The Acolyte SW Celebration short was offically released.