The Art of Star Wars: The Acolyte
The Art of Star Wars: The Acolyte showcases the production art, character, and vehicle designs, planets, storyboards, and other breathtaking work created during the production of the Disney+ series.
Set 100 years before The Phantom Menace, in the waning days of the High Republic, The Acolyte tells the story of a Jedi Master and their former Padawan as they investigate a sinister threat.
Starring Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Jodie Turner-Smith, and Carrie-Ann Moss, this series marked the first time the High Republic appeared in live action. Filled with interviews with key creatives from the series, this book offers a firsthand account of working within this new era.
Author: Kristin Baver
Publication Date: February 3, 2026
Page Count: 224
ISBN: 9781419777349
While the story of The Acolyte could be viewed as a glorious attempt that didn’t quite stick the landing, a flick through Kristin Baver’s 10th Star Wars publication shows that while the audience may have failed to fully connect with this ambitious quest to embark on a new era leading up to events of The Phantom Menace there’s no doubting the work, craft and effort that went into establishing this new era. From worlds to starships, droids to costumes and beyond, every nut, bolt and emblem was designed to take us on a journey, from what readers had seen of The High Republic in books and comics to the world of The Phantom Menace and the terrible plunge the galaxy took after the fall of the Jedi and the Republic.
Opening with an introduction from showrunner Leslye Headland, we work our way through the journey from concept to screen. ‘The Pitch’ is a fascinating opening to the book, as Headland reveals that, “Star Wars was the main escape. The comfort. The inspiration. All those things.” Raised on the Special Editions, she dove into the GFFA, and after success with hit show Russian Doll she gave an elevator pitch to Lucasfilm that led to a more formal pitch in 2019, and from that – a mashup of Frozen meets Kill Bill, with a healthy infusion of kung-fu cinema – The Acolyte was born. With its central characters set and remaining through the development of the show, progress was made. Taking the same production name as Back to the Future 2 – Paradox – it presented an era a century before Episode 1, and the meaning of the project was not lost on Headland. She had an image of Ralph McQuarrie’s Leia Organa concept art from A New Hope tatooed onto her right hand, a visceral and lifelong reminder of just how much Star Wars means to her.
‘Twin Sisters’ looks at the development and relationship between Osha and Mae, while ‘Guardians of Peace’ delves into the world of the Jedi at that time, looking at the architecture of the Jedi temple which is somewhat different to how it appears decades later in the prequels and beyond, as production designer (as Thank The Maker: The Force Awakens guest) Kevin Jenkins explains. “I was trying to show that Coruscant did not look like the Coruscant we know, just like New York City in the 1920s does not look like New York City now. My argument was, how does the audience understand where they are in our time period if we don’t show them? That’s the production designer’s job, to literally give the audience the visual bookmarks that tell them where they are and where they aren’t.”
Through stunning cityscape designs, droids, clothing and more the world of The Acolyte is layered on and on, the background for the seven-episode adventure to take place. ‘Prison Break ‘looks at the Jedi prison ship that sees PIP and Osha escape as they crash down on Carlac, a world first seen in The Clone Wars, and we delve into alternate designs for the vessel, those nifty headrests that are actually autopilot droids, and her fellow inmates who make the break and then leave her to her fate.
From here the books continues through the major sequences of the season. ‘The Barash Vow’, which played out on the world of Olega but which was shot at Shinfield Studios, and a look at the streets and denizens of the world, ‘The Wookiee’s Retreat’ as we head to Khofar and Kelnacca’s hideout, a segment of the book that includes the development of the brilliant Bazil (Hassan Taj) and the creepy Umbramoths. It also looks at the unforgettable battle between the Jedi and Q’imir before taking a closer look at ‘The Stranger’ and his iconic grinning helmet, a foreshadowing that could have led to the Knights of Ren. “It felt like it foreshadowed a possible connection to the Knights of Ren with the Kylo Ren shape we landed on. We just started to go in that direction. It was in the design of the character, as well as knowing that we were going to introduce Darth Plagueis, who has to end up with Palpatine as his apprentice. Following the Rule of Two—a precept that limited the Sith to just two at any given time, a master and an apprentice—one way to keep it going is if the Stranger is the first Knight of Ren, part of a Sith-adjacent cult that we know eventually survives.”
‘The Coven’ takes us to Brendok, the home of Osha, Mae and Mother Aniseya, the only scenes of the show filmed at Pinewood, which took inspiration from Star Wars lore and Ahch-To in The Last Jedi. With its physical home being the locations shot in Wales, the design matched that aesthetic, giving Brendok a rootsy, earthy tone, and making the two episodes where we flash back to the planet the anchor of the season as the destinies of young Mae and Osha are set in motion. There’s more design and creation here than you might remember, with the Jedi speeder, the witches home itself and other locations, as well as the starship chase through the rings of the planet.
The books epilogue does a great job of laying out what we could have had. With breadcrumbs throughout the book, and Headland explaining a sequence where Vernestra Rwoh met with Master Yoda to tell him of the events that just happened (from a certain point of view) we leave the worlds of The Acolyte pondering on what might have been as the seasons moved on with Darth Plagueis, the relationship between Osha and Q’imir, the fascinating arrival of Senator Rayencourt (David Harewood OBE), developing links to the Knights of Ren, an increased presense of the Jedi Council of the time and the status of the galaxy as it slowly edges towards disaster without realising it’s even happening. Baver delivers a consistently slick and insightful narrative as we move through the world of the show, and as you close the final page it’s hard to deny that a lot – a LOT – of lore, world-building, and story has been left on the table.
