SET AN EVEN LONGER TIME AGO IN A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY, THE ACOLYTEPROMISES A GLEAMING, ECLECTIC BUNCH OF JEDI — AND A WHOLE NEW, MYSTERIOUS ADVENTURE. YOU’VE NEVER SEEN STAR WARS LIKE THIS BEFORE…

WORDS BEN TRAVIS

THE WOOKIEE JEDI WAS GREETED WITH THUNDEROUS APPLAUSE.

Clad in a yellow tabard draped across his massive furry frame, lightsaber clipped to his utility belt, the Chewbacca-alike Force-user strode onto the main stage at Star Wars Celebration 2023 to a cacophony of cheers. This particular fuzzball goes by the name of Kelnacca —and his task that day wasn’t to fight the dark side: it was to escort his creator, The Acolyte showrunner Leslye Headland, as she presented her bold new Star Wars vision to the assembled throng.

If you’re wondering what exactly compels a Wookiee —typically less inclined to lend a hand than rip one clean off —to find harmony through the Force, you’re not alone. “Wookiees are fierce creatures living in their own habitat. How does one become a Jedi?” ponders Joonas Suotamo, the actor who here originates an all-new walking carpet, after inheriting the role of Chewie in the Star Wars sequels.

The Wookiee Jedi isn’t even The Acolyte’s biggest swing. Prepare to meet “Jedi David Bowie”, aka Dafne Keen’s incoming Padawan Jecki —a moniker owing not just to her Aladdin Sane-esque red-and-blue facial markings (she’s a Theelin, like Max Rebo’s punky, pink-haired backing singer from the Return Of The Jedi Special Edition), but the vibe she brought to The Acolyte’s set. “‘Starman’ was, like, my tune while we were filming,” says Keen. “I had it on in my trailer all the time.” And why not throw into the mix the legendary Carrie-Anne Moss, whose impeccable action abilities honed on The Matrix movies are a seamless fit for Headland’s notion of a martial arts-fuelled Star Wars series, channelling wuxia and samurai movies like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Lady Snowblood.

Together, they make up just a handful of the sprawling ensemble of Masters, Knights and Padawans ready to leap into action in a Star Wars story like no other —exploring an entirely new era of the galaxy while doubling down on space oddities, laser-swords, and deep Force lore. The art kids have taken over. Make way for Star Wars’ biggest, boldest, brightest new hope.

Of all things, it was Attack Of The Clones that forever changed Headland’s conception of the Jedi. In Episode II’s final reel, George Lucas delivered an image that fans had, until then, only ever dreamed of seeing on screen: hundreds of Jedi igniting their lightsabers at once, charging together into battle on Geonosis.

“It just felt so iconic to me, and something I had never seen before,” Headland tells Empire. “That was the first time I saw the Jedi as this massive force, as opposed to that smaller concept of the one-on-one, the Jedi versus Sith: Luke versus Vader, Qui- Gon and Obi-Wan versus Maul. The idea that a whole platoon of Jedi could be dropped into the middle of the ring, move the way they moved. And that there were so many different kinds —it isn’t just people that look like Obi-Wan and Qui- Gon and Anakin, but different species.” That moment crystallised an important notion in Star Wars rarely depicted in the movies: that an ever longer time ago in a galaxy far, far away, there were Jedi everywhere.