On December 10th, amidst a swarm ofStarWarsannouncements duringDisney’s 2020 investor call presentation, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy announcedStar Wars: The Acolyte, an upcoming series exclusive to the Disney+ streaming service and the first screen project set in the “High Republic,” a brand-newStar Warsmultimedia project launching in January 2021.
“The Acolyteis a mystery-thriller set in a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging Dark Side powers in the final days of the High Republic era,” Kennedy described during the presentation.
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The series is led by Leslye Headland, a television director most famous for co-creating the critically-acclaimed 2019 Netflix seriesRussian Dollwith Natasha Lyonne and Amy Poehler. In April,Varietyreported Headland had signed on for a female-centric untitledStar Warsseries, which Lucasfilm then officially confirmed in May on the officialStar Warswebsite.
Initially codenamed “Project Luminous” in 2018, the High Republic was unveiled in February 2020 for an August release, then delayed to January 2021in light of the COVID-19 outbreak. Set 200 years before “A Long Time Ago,“ it depicts the Skywalker galaxy at its most prosperous. As described ina digital sample book released in December, the High Republic is “a peaceful union of like-minded worlds where all voices are heard, and governance is achieved through consensus, not coercion or fear.”
This era reportedly kicks off with a catastrophic event known as “The Great Disaster,” in which all starships across the galaxy abruptly exit hyperspace, causing massive collision and destruction on a levelnever seen in the Skywalker saga. Though it’s currently a mystery as to how this event sets the stage for the High Republic era that follows, it can be speculated that the widespread rescue effort from the Jedi Knights instilled a sense of hope in the citizens of the galaxy, ushering in an age of collaborative cleanup and peacekeeping.
Conversely,The Acolyteis set at the end of this never-explored era, which could imply the actions of the titular character may sow the seeds of the High Republic’s destructive downfall, as well as setting the foundation for the powers and techniques that havedefined the Dark Sidefor generations, from socially-distant suffocation to electric mayhem.
The New Republic is set to launch on January 5th, 2021 with novels and comics to welcome early adopters. The first wave of content includes the novelsLight of the Jediby Charles Soule,A Test of Courageby Justina Ireland,The Great Jedi Rescueby Cavan Scott, andInto the Darkby Claudia Gray. A Marvel comic series written by Cavan Scott and illustrated by Ario Anindito is set to launch on January 6th. If the wellspring of launch material is any indication,The Acolytewill show the beginning of the end, while itself being the end of a beginning, takingStar Wars' first steps into a larger world- a republic undiscovered and full of possibility.
