Star Wars: Why I’m Hyped For ‘The Acolyte’
The new trailer for the Acolyte has me pretty hyped.
Star Wars: The Acolyte just dropped its first trailer. This long-awaited show is hitting screens on June 4th. It’s the first live-action Star Wars of the year and the first we’ve gotten in 8 months since Ashoka ended. This show has been teased for quite some time and has a ton of buzz. After seeing the first trailer I am fully aboard the hype train, here’s why.
What is The Acolyte?
So right off the bat, what even is The Acolyte about? The show is set during the High Republic Era, about 100 years before the Prequel trilogy and the Fall of the Republic. The story itself seems to be more of a mystery than we are used to. It centers around a former Padawan who reunites with her master to investigate what appears to be someone attacking or killing various Jedi. Of course, things aren’t going to be simple here, and some kind of hidden darkness is uncovered. Sounds fun! But the story alone isn’t why I’m excited.
First Trip to High Republic
The High Republic has been around for quite a few years now as its own Era of Star Wars. It’s had a number of books and comics devoted to it, but we’ve never seen it on screen. So I’m excited to get our first real look into the era. This is a time when the galaxy is mostly at peace and when the Jedi are at the height of their power. Or maybe just past it, having started a slow decline. It’s an exciting and shiny new place to see and explore and tell different stories. It’s always fun to see some new stuff explored in Star Wars.
The Acolyte Has a More Serious Tone
Andor is the best thing Disney has done with Star Wars. Part of what made that show so good was its tone. It brought a more mature and darker take to what is a very serious subject than we often get. Star Wars can be fun, goofy, and campy—and good at the same time. But often the best Star Wars is when it gets a bit more serious, think Empire or the ending of The Clone Wars. The Acolyte definitely implied that the show is following that route with a more serious take on the setting.
And I don’t just mean the lighting.
Now obviously trailers can be misleading, and this is just the very first one. The tone of the show could be different once it comes out. However, given everything we’ve heard about the show, I don’t think this is the case. Certainly, showrunner Leslye Headland nailed her work on Russian Doll.
More Force and Jedi
It’s always fun to explore the Force and see Jedi in action. Now it’s not needed for good Star Wars, Andor kept the Jedi and the Force out of its story. But the Acolyte is definitely going the other way. This show seems poised to dive into the Force a lot. And that’s pretty exciting. One of the coolest parts of the Prequel Era has always been seeing a bunch of Jedi doing cool Jedi stuff. And this is the Jedi at their height, which promises to be pretty rad. However, it doesn’t stop there. We are also getting a lot of non-Jedi Force users in the story. The main character is a former Padawan. We know Jodie Tuner-Smith is playing a power Force user who is not a Jedi or Sith. Getting to explore these things is a lot of fun.
It’s Unconnected to Most Star Wars
What might have me most hyped about the show is that it’s really the first live-action show that is pretty much unconnected to the main “Skywalker Saga”. This is really its own story in its own era. I love the Rebellion and the Clone Wars, but seeing something new and free to do different things is great. Yes, Yoda is around, but for the most part, this show has a freedom none of the others do. It’s not even set in the same era with the specter of the Empire hanging over it. The two seasons of Star Wars Visions out so far have given us some great looks at other, non-cannon, periods in Star Wars untied to the “main plot” and those have always been a ton of fun.
Now we get a whole show? I’m in.
