A/V The Acolyte: Leslye Headland, High Republic-era Disney+ Series

Its good to have show where most characters might be aliens and Jedi. Not since prequel and The Clone wars.

 

Spoiler

That would make sense. Unlikely to be Arkoff, due to age and fur color, and it would funny if there was a third wookiee jedi running around since wookiee jedi are said to be rare iirc.

 

Well rare could still 3-10 among hundreds other specied in the jedi order.

 

Cannon Tyvokka perhaps?

 

The Acolyte sounds like its going to be great, maybe reach Andor levels.

 

The usual notorious advertizing using big vehicle names.

 

To be fair Ridley was asked a very specific question about upcoming Star Wars projects starring female protagonists. It's not like she was just mentioning the Acolyte out of the blue. The person who asked her that question was basically setting it up to where she would say something about the show.

This wasn't about Lucasfilm getting press for the show. This was about the Direct trying to get clicks from a Variety article that was more about Ridley giving advice to future female leads in handling social media while part of the franchise.

 

If true, this may cause a delay



according to top comment "Tldr; She did work for Lucasfilm, giving up an opportunity to work with Apple, then was axed and Lucasfilm is refusing to pay her."

 

This all happened almost a year ago. The series has been filming since October so it won't cause any type of delay. And to be honest I am not sure she really has much of a case considering she only had a 'broad strokes agreement'. Hollywood isn't a kind place.

 

Oh ok, I just saw it today. I mean it would depend on her contribution to the show. But if it happened a year ago, then nothing to worry about, aside from general 'concerns' will she show be good.

 

I read that name for the very first time. Yeah, she was fired a year ago, but she sues only now. That is a difference. Such filing of a sue has to be prepared well to have good chances for success. Does anybody know, why McCarthy's contract was finished? I don't find anything right now by searching.

 

It might come out in court.

 

Kind of weird we aren't posting Acolyte news from Celebration in the Acolyte thread.

 

I know I have just been talking about the show in the tv section.

 

https://www.starwars.com/news/swce-2023-lucasfilm-studio-showcase
2. Meet Kelnacca, Wookiee Jedi Master from The Acolyte.

Leslye Headland, showrunner of the upcoming The Acolyte, took the stage with a tunic-wearing Wookiee at her side. As it turns out, that Wookiee is named Kelnacca, a Jedi Master, and will be played by Joonas Suotamo (Chewbacca, the Scourge in Willow). “I’m so beyond excited,” Suotamo said,” because ever since I was a kid, I wanted to be a Jedi.”


3. The origins of The Acolyte.

Leslye Headland wanted to tell a story “from the perspective of the villains,” and the High Republic — the prime of the Jedi and a time of peace — was the ideal setting. “This is when the bad guys are outnumbered,” she said. “They are the underdogs, and so it seemed like the perfect part of the timeline to explore in live-action.” Headland named her inspirations as samurai and martial arts films, with a focus on relationships, from master and apprentice to siblings. “We went back to a lot of films that inspired George [Lucas].”



4. A thrilling sneak peek of The Acolyte, coming 2024.

Fans in attendance were treated to the first-ever footage of the upcoming Disney+ series, which featured lots of Jedi (something Headland promised) and action. It began with younglings in a meditative exercise, as Lee Jung-jae’s Jedi relays words of wisdom. “Close your eyes. Your eyes can deceive you. We must not trust them,” he says. “The Force is powerful. It is power we must respect.” Mysterious imagery and fast-moving combat filled the clip, including a battle between Carrie-Ann Moss’ Jedi character and a blade-wielding assailant, and it ended with several Jedi igniting their lightsabers before an unseen foe. Another huge ovation from the crowd.

https://www.starwars.com/news/swce-2023-star-wars-the-high-republic-panel

https://news.yahoo.com/star-wars-th...-mysterious-high-republic-jedi-064558702.html

 

https://collider.com/the-acolyte-jedi-leslye-headland-comments/

https://collider.com/the-acolyte-zygerrian-practical-effects-leslye-headland-comments/

 

I think people are far too eager to criticize the Jedi now. And that most of these Jedi critical stories don’t do a good job of showing well intentioned but flawed, instead just making the Jedi stupid

 

Hmmm...I was really looking forward to the Acolyte, but this interview does worry me a bit.

In particular, I am pretty annoyed by equating the message "the jedi were horrible failures who deserved to die" with "the jedi were not perfect" as if everyone who isn't perfect deserves destruction.

And yes, the prequels were about the fall of the jedi, but that was portrayed as a tragedy not a triumph. It was a sad thing, and bad for the galaxy. And frankly, looking at Lucas' behind the scenes comments, I don't get the impression he thought the jedi were wrong, morally or even factually, just that they couldn't hold up the Republic by themselves when most of the rest of the galaxy had given up on it and took the quick and easy routes offered by Palpatine and Dooku. And even then, I feel like the flaws of the jedi and republic take a backseat to Anakin's personal flaws, since the story is ultimately about him going from hero to villain.

Still, I do only say a bit, because this is a story about the universe from the perspective of the villains. That is inherently going to shift how things are framed.

 

The interview comments come across as oblivious of the entire HR output! Which is more than a bit surprising.

All the HR stories I've read so far have very much delved into the imperfections of the Jedi, as they respond to the Nihil and Drengir.

 

I think she was probably more referring to how many people view the movies and tv shows. I think most people know that those that read books and comics are a little more open to different styles of Star Wars storytelling.

 

Maybe and it is a villain's story but people don't seem to pick up on that detail in the way we'd expect. See The Boys season 3 and the outrage from the usual suspects over him being, gasp, the villain!

 

Hm, interesting. I now have a clearer view of the Frozen meets kill bill and I am not more interested sadly. To me Frozen meets kill bill, means a story of someone who comes into their own power and embraces it mixed with a revenge tale. But BK is just "a modern martial arts movie", so that is disappointing.

Weirdly enough one of the best criticisms of the Jedi comes from the First Jedi Apprentice book (a YAish novel), where Obi-Wan and Jinn, are int a situation where two groups are being attacked at once, one group can defend themselves, while another can't/won't, being Jedi they decide to only help the ones who can't/won't fight. Both groups get though it, but the ones the jedi left on their own are now very resentful and even more against the Jedi. By only helping the weak and helpless you can make enemies from other people who struggle but are willing to fight.

 

I think my favorite is the recent The Blade comic

Spoiler

Where the jedi do genuinely try their best, the very presence of the jedi ends up causing a panic spiral that turned a bit of political theater into a bloody battle, especially after the jedi, despite trying to be skeptical and objective, fell for the right sob-story.

I mean it wasn't entirely their fault, and frankly a lot of people had more blame than them, but it was still a good example of how sometimes the presence of jedi escalates conflict instead of deeseclating it.

 

This project continues to worry me. The premise of the Acolyte does not seem to fit in with the overall themes of the High Republic.

And like... the Jedi are CONSTANTLY criticized. And have been since 1999, at least. Like... that isn't radical.