Disney’s newest Star Wars show, The Acolyte, is just a month away on Disney Plus, and the newest trailer for it hints that the show will pull on a thread that Rian Johnson’s Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi tugged on back in 2017: Is the Jedi order actually all that good?
Set well before the events of the Star Wars prequel trilogy, The Acolyte sees High Republic-era Jedi master Sol (Lee Jung-jae) investigating a string of murders (which include at least one Jedi). Today’s trailer reveals that the mysterious black-clad Mae (Amandla Stenberg), is a former student of his, and it seems like she’s probably a suspect in the murders. It also reinforces the idea that this will be a particularly grim series.
It also introduces a zipper-faced villain whose red lightsaber sparks to life in a foggy jungle, apparently just before a fight with Sol. It’s a mystery who’s wearing the scarred-up helmet, which bears more than a little resemblance to Kylo Ren’s in the most recent Star Wars trilogy. Maybe it’s the series’ big bad, or maybe it’s just a spooky dream Sol is having. Or Perhaps Disney is preparing to tell us the “Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise” Sith legend that Emperor Palpatine regaled Anakin Skywalker with in Star Wars Episode III.
One thing’s for sure: Whoever this villain is, they keep up the long tradition of the Sith (assuming that’s what they are) making the Jedi look like total dorks. The Acolyte’s stars include Carrie-Anne Moss, Rebecca Henderson, Dean-Charles Chapman, and Joonas Suotamo, and it will premiere June 4th with two episodes on Disney Plus.
