The upcoming Star Wars series The Acolyte's timeline is breaking new ground for the franchise. The series will be set in a time that has never been explored in any of the live-action shows.
We have become accustomed to seeing the Star Wars live-action projects explore various stories set in familiar eras, starting from the Fall of the Jedi in the prequel trilogy to the Rise of the First Order in the sequel trilogy.
Now, for the first time, Star Wars is tackling the High Republic in live-action, an era that was only previously explored in novels and comics and has no connection to the Skywalker Saga.
Also Read: New The Acolyte Teaser Seemingly Spoils Major Plot Twist
When is The Acolyte Taking Place? Timeline Explained
The Acolyte will take place around 100 years before the events of The Phantom Menace, near the end of the High Republic era.
It is set at a time when the Jedi is at the height of its powers while the Sith is slowly lurking in the shadows and is considered to be the underdog.
Showrunner Leslye Headland explained in an interview that the series will explore the different moralities of the Jedi and the Sith around this period that led to the situation seen in The Phantom Menace.
"So the question becomes when did that happen, and since we know where they’re headed in Phantom Menace, what went wrong? What are the cracks in that?" she said.
"So you definitely get the point of view of the Jedi, especially in terms of Amandla [Stenberg]’s character and trying to stop her and hunt her down. But you also get enough of Amandla’s character’s perspective that you can also see how both of them exist simultaneously."
The Acolyte is Inspired by Samurai Films
Headland revealed that they took inspiration from samurai and wuxia films for The Acolyte due to its unique timeline compared to the other Star Wars shows.
"One thing to know about the show is that we’ve been talking about it as a mystery-thriller. It is a serialized story, so each episode gives you more information about the story," she explained.
"We were obviously influenced by samurai films and wuxia films, but also films like Rashomon, where you see one story and then you see it done a different way. So, what separates [The Acolyte] from some of the other Star Wars series is that it’s told in that particular way."
The Star Wars franchise is no stranger to taking inspiration from samurai films since George Lucas himself has publicly stated that Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress influenced the original 1977 film.
As the showrunner explained, the tradition will continue in The Acolyte and the trailers have supported the claim as we can already see the influences in the various scenes that they've shown so far.
The Acolyte will premiere on Disney+ with two episodes this June 4.
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