The days are counting down to the release of The Acolyte on 4th June in the States and the 5th in the UK and the worlds most famous movie magazine Empire are diving in to the end of The High Republic era and chatting with the stars of the show as well as the creative team behind it.
It’s long been a part of the Star Wars mythos, but something rarely depicted in live-action: go back before Order 66 and the events of the prequels, and the galaxy was once flooded with Jedi. The sight of lightsaber-wielders moving en masse was a major moment at the end of Episode II – Attack Of The Clones – but given that Palpatine and a nascent Vader bumped all the other Jedi off shortly after, it’s rarely been seen again. The Acolyte, though, is set to deliver exactly that – the new Star Wars series, from an original idea by Russian Doll creator Leslye Headland, is set 100 years before The Phantom Menace, at the end of the largely-peaceful High Republic era. And it’s a time simply stacked with Jedi.
Which in itself begs a bigger, overarching Star Wars question: if the Jedi were once flourishing and all-powerful, how did they let it slip so badly by the time of the Skywalker Saga, when Darth Sidious violently takes over? That’s part of the big picture at play in The Acolyte. “I was very interested in, how did the Jedi get to where they are in Phantom Menace?” Headland tells Empire in our world-exclusive cover feature. “You’re definitely getting a sense that, with the Jedi, the writing may be on the wall.” With the Jedi firmly in charge, The Acolyte’s early flickers of a looming dark side threat offers a new kind of Star Wars dynamic. “The quote-unquote ‘war’ of this Star Wars is a much smaller, more personal one,” notes Headland. “The war between people, the war between characters.”
The issue lands 11th April on shelves everywhere – earlier if you’re a subscriber – and there’s sure to be plenty to tuck into, including an interview with none other than Daisy Ridley.
