Following more information about the upcoming “Andor” series arriving yesterday, Vanity Fair has also posted some new details about another “Star Wars” series on the way – “The Acolyte”.
The mystery thriller project is one of the most anticipated of the upcoming series because it firmly moves the action outside the time periods around or between the three film trilogies.
Instead, the series unfolds around the tail end of The High Republic area – between one to three centuries before the original trilogy. This offers a potential break from the heavy legacy character inclusion of much of modern “Star Wars” to give us new faces and new storylines not seen in the franchise to date.
Showrunner Leslye Headland (“Russian Doll,” “SMILF”) spoke with the outlet and explained the motivation for telling stories set in the glory days of the Jedi:
“The truth is that I, as a major mega fan, came to them with this idea. And I said, ‘I think the best place to put this is in an era you guys have not quite explored yet.’ They were very enthusiastic. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to explore that [existing] world, but I think that they already were because ‘The Mandalorian’ and a lot of the other television projects were really relying on legacy characters.
I think if you want to explore ‘Star Wars’ from the perspective of the bad guys, the best time to do it is when the bad guys are wildly outnumbered, when they actually are essentially the underdogs, for lack of a better term.
My question in watching ‘The Phantom Menace’ was always like, ‘Well, how did things get to this point?’ Do you know what I mean? How did we get to where a Sith lord can infiltrate the Senate and none of the Jedi picks up on it? What went wrong? What are the scenarios that led us to this moment?’ So that’s what I would say. That’s how I would describe [The High Republic] to my friends, especially my non-Star Wars friends.”
Headland also confirms that classic wuxia films (martial arts stories in ancient and fantastical settings) are a big influence for the new series in the way samurai films and sci-fi serials were on Lucas’ films:
“I actually went more toward martial arts films and storylines that are a little bit more personal and less global and galactic. Those warriors were on missions that were deeply personal, with people feeling wronged and having to make it right. Wuxia films and martial arts films from King Hu and the Shaw Brothers, like ‘Come Drink With Me’ and ‘Touch Of Zen.’ They’re monks that are also martial arts heroes.”
Aesthetically the series will follow the template Lucas set down with the prequels – namely that the further back in time you go, the more advanced, futuristic, new and sleek the technology looks. Amandla Stenberg stars in the series which isn’t expected to begin production until this Fall.
