Star Wars The Acolyte Has Cast Its Lead Actor
Breaking news from the galaxy far, far, away;
Or in this case, the good folks down at Lucasfilm who are making stories set in that galaxy, for it seems that more progress is happening with one of their many productions, with The Acolyte having an eye on its lead role. According to Variety, that role will belong to actress Amandla Stenberg, known for roles in The Hate U Give and The Hunger Games. If all plays out, she would be an amazing addition to the Star Wars universe and possibly the first woman of color to have a starring role in a Star Wars property.
It’s great to see Star Wars pushing boundaries with this casting and The Acolyte will hopefully be no exception as we continue to expand the storytelling of the galaxy far, far, away.
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Star Wars: The Acolyte is probably one of the most mysterious of the Disney+ series coming in the near future. Not much is known about it except that it will be taking place before The Phantom Menace and technically set in the High Republic era. What many have considered is that this series will focus more on the darker side of Star Wars, perhaps focusing on the Sith and what they have been doing before the events of Episode I and setting the seeds for that conflict to come. This series could prove pivotal in the grand story of Star Wars, showing us just how we got to the prequels, giving them extra context, and perhaps allowing us to see this era of Star Wars in a brand new light.
With this in mind, it is possible that Amadla Stenberg might be playing a character who is a student of the dark side. Perhaps she could play a Sith apprentice of sorts, learning the ways of the dark side from a master, delving both into the dark side but also the politics on what was going on at that time in the galaxy far, far, away. It would be a very different type of main character compared to the usual Jedi character who is trying to stop the Sith or defeat the dark side. A different type of protagonist for a different type of story. Perhaps taking the role of the anti-hero, or becoming an outright villain.
The Acolyte has a chance to really do a deep dive into the Sith and the dark side itself, if that is in fact what the series is about. It is something that only things like the Expanded Universe explored, such as the Darth Plagueis novel which really delved into what exactly it meant to be a Sith in that era, living in the shadows, and manipulating things. Seeing this in a series could also give us connections to the other eras as well, such as the original trilogy, and maybe even the sequel trilogy. It would be interesting to see Exegol play a part in the Sith grand plan, going all the way back to the beginning.
Disney+ is about to have a lot of Star Wars stories coming to it, with Book of Boba coming this year. The Acolyte right now seems to be the most mysterious but it also seems to be the most unique. It doesn’t seem like a traditional Star Wars series, which will only be a good thing as the galaxy and franchise continue to expand and move into the future. Will The Acolyte expand the galaxy more towards the dark side of the Force and take us to those darker places? Only time will tell.
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Source(s): Variety