‘The Acolyte’, the shocking series of Star Wars villains that mixes ‘Frozen’ with ‘Kill Bill’

Expectations with some of the most anticipated projects were high, but to the surprise of all those attending Star Wars Celebration Europe, no one had anticipated the good reception of ‘The Acolyte’, the shocking series of Star Wars villains that mixes ‘Frozen’ with ‘Kill Bill’.

And that is how Leslye Headland, creator and showrunner of the proposal, sold the project to Kathleen Kennedy, the almighty president of Lucasfilm. she introduced ‘The Acolyte’ as a mystery thriller in which the point of view of the villains becomes the protagonist.

Set in the final days of the High Republic era (years before ‘Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace’), it will take viewers into a galaxy of dark secrets and emerging powers of the Dark Side. It is in this scenario that A former Padawan will meet with her Jedi master to investigate a series of crimes.discovering that the forces they face are more sinister than they ever anticipated.

After pointing out that the main reference of the series were films like ‘The Hidden Fortress’ (Akira Kurosawa, 1958) and ‘Yojimbo (The Mercenary)’ (Akira Kurosawa, 1961), from which George Lucas drank to create this infinite universe, Headland also pointed out that part of his vision is due to kung fu films by the Shaw Brothers such as ‘Drink with me’ (King Hu, 1966) and ‘A Touch of Zen’ (King Hu, 1971).

“I’ve been making Star Wars fan fiction my whole life.“, said the filmmaker who, after debuting with ‘Bachelorette Party’ in 2012, went international as co-creator of ‘Russian Doll’, one of the greatest hits in the Netflix series catalogue. “When I spoke to Kathleen Kennedy about the project, she I said it was a cross between ‘Frozen’ and ‘Kill Bill’. She couldn’t refuse.”

‘The Acolyte’ also introduced its main protagonists, including Amandla Stenberg (‘The Hunger Games’), Lee Jung-jae (‘The Squid Game’), Manny Jacinto (‘Top Gun: Maverick’) , Dafne Keen (‘Dark Matters’), Charlie Barnett (‘You’), Jodie Turner-Smith (‘Queen & Slim’), Rebecca Henderson (‘Manhunt: Unabomber’), Dean-Charles Chapman (‘1917’) and the already adored by Star Wars fans, Joonas Suotamo, who plays the Wookiee Jedi Master Kelnacca.

Although they were not present at the presentation panel, the trailer for ‘The Acolyte’ also allowed us to see in action Carrie-Anne Moss (‘Matrix’) and Margarita Levieva (‘The Innocent’) in a preview that promises to make the title one of the best Star Wars series to date.

Currently in production, ‘The Acolyte’ will finish filming this May, its premiere is expected to be in 2024 on Disney+.