Star Wars: The Acolyte Showrunner Claims George Lucas Made the Franchise Political

The Star Wars franchise has long been criticized by fans for being "overly political" but if you'd ask Leslye Headland, showrunner of the upcoming Disney+ Star Wars: The Acolyte, the legendary science-fiction franchise has always embraced political themes through the decades and it's something most people will just have to deal with. In a recent interview with The AV Club, Headland pointed out the political nature of the Star Wars universe and even used George Lucas as a prime example.

Credit: Lucasfilm

During the said interview, Leslye shared that she would get comments and suggestions from fans on a regular basis telling her not to make The Acolyte as political as the other Star Wars projects that have come before it. She reveals: "I mean, it's funny because a lot of the feedback that I'll get — and I use the term feedback very lightly — but when I do go on social media, the feedback is 'don't make Star Wars political.'"

Headland's response would be: "I'm like, 'George Lucas made it political. Those are political films.' War is, by nature, political. That's just what's up. It's truly what he was interested in talking about and looking at and digging into. So it's kind of impossible to tell a story within his universe that doesn't have to do with something that has to be that the characters see externally reflected in whatever's happening in the galaxy at that particular time period of when it takes place. You know? That's another thing that we all kind of inherited from him as well, and hope to kind of keep reflecting in the work, hopefully."

Speaking of The Acolyte, while we still know very little about the exciting new Star Wars project, rumor has it that the series will finally mark the live-action debut of Darth Revan. Of course, take it with a massive grain of salt but if Revan does, in fact, show up in The Acolyte, then it would mean that the franchise will once again welcome him back to the official canon which would be a smart move if we're being honest.


No official release date has been announced for Star Wars: The Acolyte.


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