With 'The Acolyte' on the horizon we're now deep into Disney and Lucasfilm's plans for Star Wars TV shows. Alongside 'The Mandalorian, ' 'The Book of Boba Fett, ' Ahsoka,' and 'Skeleton Crew', these shows are all building towards a big event movie and we're pretty excited. This latest entry is our first live-action exploration of the High Republic era of the Star Wars timeline. Since this is new territory for a lot of Star Wars fans, we put together a guide to everything we know about 'The Acolyte'.
The High Republic multimedia initiative, mostly developed through books and comics so far, created and expanded on a period that bridges the distant times of the famous Old Republic and the events that lead into The Phantom Menace. This era lasted around 400 years and was defined by the Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order having a golden age before their downfall. While it's largely considered an era of peace, insidious forces worked to rip apart the Republic and the Jedi in the (assumed) absence of the Sith.
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The Acolyte release date
We were initially expecting 'The Acolyte' to drop during the first half of 2024. However, that release window isn't locked anymore, especially after all the delays related to the WGA (Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) strikes this year.
Skeleton Crew was supposed to be released next, either in late November or December. The most likely scenario now is that Jon Watts' Star Wars show will arrive in late winter or early spring, pushing 'The Acolyte' in the release schedule to the 2024 summer season.
How to watch The Acolyte online
Like everything Star Wars, 'The Acolyte' will be available on Disney Plus alongside the other Star Wars shows. If you're not currently signed up to Disney's streaming platform, there are some bundle offers below that are worth checking out.
What is the plot of The Acolyte?
'The Acolyte' has been described by Lucasfilm as "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." In this story, a former Padawan reunites with her Jedi Master in order to investigate and solve a series of crimes, but the Jedi will reportedly encounter "sinister" forces that pose a threat to both the Jedi Order and the Republic.
The early teaser for 'The Acolyte' shown at Star Wars Celebration 2023 was described as a dark thriller of sorts with plenty of Force-powered martial arts action and Jedi lore, but further details about the sinister characters at the center of the story were kept in the shadows.
The preview ended with a sizable group of Jedi Knights firing up lightsabers before facing unknown enemies. Dafne Keen teased that the show is "kind of an explanation of how the Sith infiltrated the Jedi," which indicates we could meet Darth Plagueis, the master of Sheev Palpatine aka Darth Sidious.
Mind you, The Phantom Menace showed us the Jedi Order disregarded Qui-Gon Jinn's warnings about the Sith returning, claiming they'd been fully defeated over a thousand years ago. So, whatever happens in this show with dark side cultists and potential Sith figures shouldn't contradict that crucial part of the Order's ultimate downfall. There's also the possibility of the anarchistic Nihil marauders (or their remnants) showing up, since they've been the main villains of the High Republic era so far, plus they've been confirmed to appear in the in-development Star Wars Eclipse video game.
The Acolyte trailers
Though some leaked footage from the last Star Wars Celebration made its way online, Disney and Lucasfilm haven't released any official trailers or previews of 'The Acolyte.'
Expect this to change in the coming months, especially as we move past Skeleton Crew in early 2024. We'll update this article as soon as the first look hits.
The Acolyte cast
The main cast for 'The Acolyte' was officially unveiled by Disney Plus and Lucasfilm on November 7, 2022. It includes Amandla Stenberg (The Hate U Give), Lee Jung-jae (Squid Game), Manny Jacinto (The Good Place), Dafne Keen (Logan), Jodie Turner-Smith (Queen & Slim), Rebecca Henderson (Inventing Anna), Charlie Barnett (Russian Doll), Dean-Charles Chapman (1917), Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix) and Joonas Suotamo (Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker) playing a Wookiee Jedi.
Currently, we don't know about any potential cameos of well-established Star Wars characters. We suspect that there might not be too many, as the story takes place roughly 100 years before the events of The Phantom Menace. That doesn't rule out a possible Yoda appearance though…
The Acolyte Directors, writers, & crew
'The Acolyte' comes from creator, showrunner and executive producer Leslye Headland (Russian Doll), and began production in the U.K. in late 2022. The executive producers are Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, Simon Emanuel, Jeff King, and Jason Micallef. Rayne Roberts and Damian Anderson are producing as well. Headland will also direct the series pilot.
Word on the street is that Loki season 1 director Kate Herron, Kogonada (After Yang) and Alex García López (The Witcher) were approached to join the directing team of the show, but we don't have an official roster of directors nor writers yet (aside from Headland).
