An important force in creating one of the most iconic scenes in all of Star Wars has sadly passed away. Actress Maria De Aragon was behind the mask of Greedo in George Lucas' original Star Wars film in 1977. She and Harrison Ford combined to great the infamous "Han Shoots Greedo" sequence that has become the subject of much change and debate over the years.

According to management company Coolwaters Productions, De Aragon died earlier this year at the age of 81, passing away in April of natural causes.

The company shared a statement on Instagram that confirmed the news of De Aragon's passing, and told the story of how she came to join the film as the actor beneath Greedo's mask.

"Coolwaters Productions LLC is sad to report that our client Ms. Maria De Aragon, the actress who helped bring the character of Greedo to life in Star Wars: A New Hope has passed away," the company said in a statement. "Maria is also known for other films such as Teenager, Wonder Women, and The Cremators. Maria shot her role as Greedo in Los Angeles, California after the principal photography in London UK was finished and George Lucas was not happy with the way the original footage turned out. The character needed to seem more animated. In the close-ups of Greedo speaking, Maria donned the creature mask, creating the memorable face to face confrontation with Han Solo. Maria has expressed during many Q&A/panels when asked 'What do you think of Harrison Ford' she would respond, 'He kills me' (with a laugh).

"She leaves behind her family in Canada. She passed away at a nursing home at the age of 81 in late April 2024 of natural causes. Our hearts are saddened, and we wish her family the very best and we thank all her Star Wars fans for years of support."

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The original Star Wars is the only film in the franchise that featured De Aragon's work. She also appeared in films like The Cremators, Wonder Women, and Street Wars.

Star Wars: The Acolyte is debuting on Disney+ this week, and the new series takes place in the High Republic era. The show features a star-studded line-up of actors, including Lee Jung-jae, who is best known for playing Seong Gi-hun in Squid Game. The actor is playing a Jedi named Sol in The Acolyte, and he recently spoke to ComicBook about what sets his character apart from the other Jedi in the High Republic.

"So I kind of mentioned this roughness I wanted to embody, because of the High Republic timeline," Jung-jae explained via translator. "But I think this kind of concerns the emotions as well, kind of expressing them a little bit roughly. So even though externally Master Sol is extremely powerful in the Force, I think the Jedi still have this intrinsic fear, right? Whether it's the first time meeting a villain or, in the very beginning of a battle, feeling the power of your opponent for the first time."

"So I think compared to the other Jedi, I really wanted to express Sol in a unique way, because he is extremely humanistic and you see that with his relationship to Osha, but having that small element of fear or small element of surprise, even within a battle," he continued.

You can watch our interview with Jung-jae at the top of the page.

Leslye Headland Teases The Acolyte:

The Acolyte creator Leslye Headland has previously spoken about the series and teased what Star Wars fans can expect.

"We're taking a look at the political and personal and spiritual things that came up in a time period that we don't know much about," Headland explained in a previous interview. "My question when watching The Phantom Menace was always like, 'Well, how did things get to this point?' How did we get to a point where a Sith lord can infiltrate the Senate and none of the Jedi pick up on it? Like, what went wrong? What are the scenarios that led us to this moment?'"

"We actually use the term the Renaissance, or the Age of Enlightenment," Headland added. "The Jedi uniforms are gold and white, and it's almost like they would never get dirty. They would never be out and about," Headland says. "The idea is that they could have these types of uniforms because that's how little they're getting into skirmishes."

"The truth is that I, as a major mega fan, came to them with this idea. And I said, 'I think the best place to put this is in an era you guys have not quite explored yet,'" Headland revealed to Vanity Fair. "They were very enthusiastic. It wasn't that they didn't want to explore that [existing] world, but I think that they already were because The Mandalorian and a lot of the other television projects were really relying on legacy characters."

What Is The Acolyte About?

Set during The High Republic, Star Wars: The Acolyte delivers an investigation into a mysterious string of crimes, which pits a Jedi master against his former apprentice in a race to uncover the truth. The more that the pair learn about the situation, the darker their journey becomes, as they confront things that darker than either of them could have imagined.

The series stars Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Jodie Turner-Smith, Rebecca Henderson, Dean-Charles Chapman, Joonas Suotamo, and Carrie-Anne Moss. Star Wars: The Acolyte premieres on Disney+ on June 4th.

Star Wars: The Acolyte premieres on Disney+ on June 4th.

Star Wars: The Acolyte is debuting on Disney+ in just a few days, and the new show is set during the High Republic era. In honor of the upcoming series, the official social media accounts for Star Wars have been sharing various featurettes about the project ranging from a conversation between the show's creator, Leslye Headland, and Davie Filoni to the cast talking about their experience making the show. The latest featurette takes a being-the-scenes look at some of the show's fight sequences.

"The cast and crew of #TheAcolyte take us behind the fight sequences of the new Star Wars Original series. See the action in the two-episode premiere, streaming Tuesday on @disneyplus," Star Wars captioned the video on Instagram. You can check in out below:

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Rebecca Henderson Talks Weilding the Lightwhip in The Acolyte:

The Acolyte is set to feature the live-action debut of the lightwhip AKA the lightsaber whip, a modified lightsaber with one or more plasma blades in flexible containment shields. The character best known for using this weapon is Jedi Knight Vernestra Rwoh, who is making her debut in live-action in The Acolyte and being played by Rebecca Henderson. ComicBook recently spoke with Henderson, and she talked about getting to wield the weapon.

"The training wasn't that different," Henderson explained when asked if the lightwhip training differs from lightsaber training. "But I suppose the lightwhip is very dangerous," she added while pretending to get her head cut off. "The training wasn't different, but so much wrist work, so much wrist. As you can see in the shot, I'm going behind me. So it's something that I'm not seeing in front of me."

"They did, yeah," Henderson confirmed when asked if new VFX was created to make the lightwhip work. "No, I don't," she admitted with a laugh when asked if she knew how it was done behind the scenes. "It's not my department. But I didn't see it until recently. The new clip that they released was the first time I've seen the full, you know, the prongs of the thing go up ... I was like, 'It's awesome!'"

What Is The Acolyte About?

Set during The High Republic, Star Wars: The Acolyte delivers an investigation into a mysterious string of crimes, which pits a Jedi master against his former apprentice in a race to uncover the truth. The more that the pair learn about the situation, the darker their journey becomes, as they confront things that darker than either of them could have imagined.

The series stars Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Jodie Turner-Smith, Rebecca Henderson, Dean-Charles Chapman, Joonas Suotamo, and Carrie-Anne Moss. Star Wars: The Acolyte premieres on Disney+ on June 4th.

Star Wars: The Acolyte premieres on Disney+ on June 4th.

Star Wars: The Acolyte is debuting on Disney+ next week, and the series is set during the High Republic era. The show features the live-action debut of the lightwhip AKA the lightsaber whip. The character best known for using this weapon is Jedi Knight Vernestra Rwoh, who is being played by Rebecca Henderson in The Acolyte. ComicBook recently spoke with Henderson, and she talked about getting to wield the lightwhip.

"The training wasn't that different," Henderson explained when asked if the lightwhip training differs from lightsaber training. "But I suppose the lightwhip is very dangerous," she added while pretending to get her head cut off. "The training wasn't different, but so much wrist work, so much wrist. As you can see in the shot, I'm going behind me. So it's something that I'm not seeing in front of me."

"They did, yeah," Henderson confirmed when asked if new VFX was created to make the lightwhip work. "No, I don't," she admitted with a laugh when asked if she knew how it was done behind the scenes. "It's not my department. But I didn't see it until recently. The new clip that they released was the first time I've seen the full, you know, the prongs of the thing go up ... I was like, 'It's awesome!'"

The Lightwhip's History:

The lightsaber whip or lightwhip is a modified lightsaber with one or more plasma blades in flexible containment shields. Used by the Jedi Order during the Sith Wars, lightwhips have also been associated with the Nightsisters of Dathomir. The lightwhips were first canonically mentioned in the Fantasy Flight Games sourcebook Endless Vigil in 2016 before appearing in The High Republic: A Test of Courage in 2021. However, the lightwhip originated in the Star Wars Legends continuity, and first appeared in the comic book Star Wars (1977) #95 in 1985.

What Is The Acolyte About?

Set during The High Republic, Star Wars: The Acolyte delivers an investigation into a mysterious string of crimes, which pits a Jedi master against his former apprentice in a race to uncover the truth. The more that the pair learn about the situation, the darker their journey becomes, as they confront things that darker than either of them could have imagined.

The series stars Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Jodie Turner-Smith, Rebecca Henderson, Dean-Charles Chapman, Joonas Suotamo, and Carrie-Anne Moss. Star Wars: The Acolyte premieres on Disney+ on June 4th.

Star Wars: The Acolyte premieres on Disney+ on June 4th.

Star Wars: The Acolyte is debuting on Disney+ next week, and it is set in the High Republic era, which is about 100 years before the events of the prequels. Some existing characters from the page are being brought into live-action for the series in addition to many franchise newcomers. One character many fans are excited to meet is Kelnacca, and Jedi and Wookiee played by Joonas Suotamo, who took over the role of Chewbacca from Peter Mayhew in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Solo: A Star Wars Story, and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. In addition to debuting on The Acolyte, Kelnacca will also be getting his own Marvel comic.

According to Gizmodo, Marvel Comics will be releasing Kelnacca's comic after the first season of The Acolyte comes to an end, and it promises to delve further into the character's history. Star Wars: The Acolyte - Kelnacca #1 is a one-shot written by Cavan Scott with art by Marika Cresta. The story will "bridge the gap between The High Republic novels and comics to The Acolyte itself."

"It's been so exciting to draw a line from The Acolyte back to The High Republic era we've been building in comics, books, audio and animation," Scott told io9. "Kelnacca is the perfect character to bridge the gap between the time of Leslye Headland's spectacular series to the age of Starlight Beacon, the threat of Marchion Ro, and the marauding Nihil. In this comic, we will learn more about one of the most intriguing aspects of Kelnacca's design: the meaning behind those mysterious tattoos. Along the way we'll see the struggle of a Padawan and a master who is stoic, wise, and, ultimately, a true practitioner of Light and Life."

You can check out the main cover and two variant covers for Kelnacca's comic below:

What Is The Acolyte About?

Set during The High Republic, Star Wars: The Acolyte delivers an investigation into a mysterious string of crimes, which pits a Jedi master against his former apprentice in a race to uncover the truth. The more that the pair learn about the situation, the darker their journey becomes, as they confront things that darker than either of them could have imagined.

The series stars Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Jodie Turner-Smith, Rebecca Henderson, Dean-Charles Chapman, Joonas Suotamo, and Carrie-Anne Moss. Star Wars: The Acolyte premieres on Disney+ on June 4th.

Star Wars: The Acolyte premieres on Disney+ on June 4th. Star Wars: The Acolyte - Kelnacca #1 is being released on September 4th.

Fantasy Flight Games has announced a new version of its Star Wars: The Deckbuilding Game. This August, Fantasy Flight Games will release Clone Wars Edition of Star Wars: The Deckbuilding Game, a new standalone version of its Star Wars: The Deckbuilding Game released last year. The new edition will feature all new cards and will not require the original Star Wars: The Deckbuilding Game to play. The two-player game will feature similar gameplay, with each player starting with a basic deck and expanding it by buying a mix of cards from their specific faction and neutral cards. The Clone Wars version will obviously focus on the Republic and Separatists, although the aim of the game remains the same with players trying to be the first to destroy three of their opponent's bases.

In an article announcing the game, Fantasy Flight revealed some details about the new game and how the various factions will work. The Republic cards focus on synergies between Jedi and Trooper units, while the separatists utilize a new version of "exiling" cards that remove cards that either sacrifice cards to gain various effects or pull cards from an exile pile and put them back in play.

Fantasy Flight first released its Star Wars: The Deckbuilding Game earlier this year as a standalone, contained experience. The game publisher also released Star Wars Unlimited, a collectable trading card game with a handful of similar mechanics (such as targeting an opponent's base to win the game) but very different deck construction rules and deck strategies. Fantasy Flight has increasingly focused on card games in recent years, with Marvel Champions, Arkham Horror, and repackaged version of its Lord of the Rings card games all among its more recent products.

Fans were surprised and thrilled when Hayden Christensen reprised his role of Anakin Skywalker for Star Wars: Ahsoka, and with a Season 2 of the series officially on the way, audiences are wondering if we'll get more Anakin. When asked directly by Entertainment Weekly about what the implications of a second season mean for the actor, he went the ambiguous route and merely noted that Anakin would be with Ahsoka in spirit, sparking speculation about whether he'll make any on-screen appearances. Given the enthusiasm expressed by the actor and by fans, we doubt the figure will be gone from the franchise for good, leaving us to wonder if Ahsoka or another project will feature Anakin's next appearance.

"Look, as to whether or not we see Anakin again, I don't know," the actor admitted. "But as evidenced by that last shot of the series, he's with her in spirit, and they continue to have this connection."

Given that Ahsoka's timeline coincides with the events of The Mandalorian, years after the death of Darth Vader, fans weren't anticipating any appearance by Ahsoka's former Jedi Master, but both flashbacks to a young Ahsoka and the mystical nature of the "World Between Worlds" allowed for Christensen's involvement. Ahsoka actor Rosario Dawson, on the other hand, had a bit more of a promising tease of the character's return.

"I will just say that as she puts on that hologram of him, you see that there's several of them," Dawson detailed. "So I think there's that potential. But I love, also, not just being relegated to those messages and things that we might be able to see more of in the future. We've gotten to see from the films now into the show that he's been able to become this Force Ghost that brings him back to Anakin, who at the end of the day, when he went and ascended to that space, that's what he became."

She continued, "And I love that she's got that access point. I love that that peace has continued and you get to see it reflected in him that he gets to enjoy seeing what his legacy has become in a different way. And if Dave Filoni is listening, I hope we get to explore that more, because the road ahead is not going to be easy. And I think that's been one of the really cool things about this story is a lot of these folks have been able to continue. I'm very into that sort of intergenerational openness of wisdom being passed on, and I would hope that she'd still be able to access that wisdom."

Stay tuned for updates on Christenen's possible return as Anakin.

Would you like to see more Anakin? Contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

Star Wars: The Acolyte is coming into its final PR push before the series premiere next week - and in the latest promo video, Lucasfilm is making it clear, in on uncertain terms, that The Acolyte will feature a major new Sith Lord villain!

As you can see in the promo below, the latest footage from The Acolyte reveals main character Mae (Amandla Stenberg) meeting with a black-suited warrior carrying a red lightsaber. It seems pretty Sith-y...

The trailers and featurettes for The Acolyte have teased the presence of a new Sith threat - a resurgence that is a very murky and undefined part of the Star Wars Saga. We know that the Sith Resurgence culminating with the reign of Darth Sidious (Emperor Palpatine); however, the secret line of succession amongst the Sith leading to Sidious has never been fully explained. There's a lot of speculation that The Acolyte will be the chapter of Star Wars that finally fills in that part of the story - at least in part.

Who Is The Sith Lord in Star Wars: The Acolyte?

The Acolyte showrunner Leslye Headland has previously teased how the show will explore who "The Acolyte" is, and their connection to the Jedi and Sith:

"You will discover it when you're watching the show. It will be revealed," Headland told THR. "One thing to know about the show is that we've been talking about it as a mystery thriller. It is a serialized story, so each episode gives you more information about the story."

In fact, The Acolyte will take the infamous Anakin Skywalker quote from the Star Wars Prequels ("From my point of view, the Jedi are evil!") and turn it into a unique show format:

"We were obviously influenced by samurai films and wuxia films, but also films like Rashomon, where you see one story and then you see it done a different way," Headland previously revealed. "So, what separates [Star Wars: The Acolyte] from some of the other Star Wars series is that it's told in that particular way."

Fans have their own theories about whether the show is about an actual Sith Lord in existence at the time of the High Republic, or someone who ultimately decides to become one. If it's the former, there are theories that villains only referenced in the franchise (Darth Plagueis the Wise) could finally get a big debut, and that Star Wars' High Republic and Skywalker Saga eras could get bridged in an exciting way.

Star Wars: The Acolyte will premiere on Disney+ on June 4th.

Hayden Christensen and Rosario Dawson are reminiscing on their reunion in Star Wars: Ahsoka. The first season of the Disney+ series featured a long-awaited reunion between Dawson's lead character Ahsoka and Christensen's Anakin Skywalker in the episode titled "Shadow Warrior." After watching Ahsoka and Anakin for multiple seasons of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, it was satisfying for fans to see them back together again in live action. However, both stars revealed they were already familiar with each other prior to Ahsoka.

Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Hayden Christensen and Rosario Dawson recapped their history together, which includes being students at New York City's Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute in the summer of 1995. "I had just started acting," Dawson told Entertainment Weekly. "Kids was in the theaters, and my grandmother was like, 'If you're going to take this seriously, you go to acting class.' She could afford one semester, and in those couple of weeks over that summer I got to meet Hayden and do a class where I learned how to really feel a drop of water hit my head and drip down my body. I learned how to go method!"

Dawson then recalled her reaction when she found out Christensen would be playing Anakin, aka the future Darth Vader in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. "I remember thinking it was going to be quite the performance, because he is one of the nicest human beings you could possibly meet. I was so proud and so happy for him," she said.

"We never could have imagined we'd be here doing this together," Dawson said while laughing. "It is a pretty cool thing to know that we have a history that we were able to play with and actually engage with, and that there is a history there that didn't have to get made up."

"It's really been a very special experience for us to get to reunite on this project," Christensen added, "and to get to play these characters that have the history to their relationship that they do, and get to explore some of that with someone that I've known for quite a while myself."

Rosario Dawson shares Ahsoka Season 2 excitement

Back in April, Rosario Dawson and Mark Hamill reunited to record a special Fright Night episode of Manifest Media's Table Read podcast. ComicBook attended the recording, and we asked Dawson if she had any Ahsoka Season 2 updates to share.

"Nope," Dawson replied when asked if she's read anything from Ahsoka Season 2. "Hugely so," she said about being excited to continue the series. "I mean, it's a big deal. It's huge. I love everyone. It's an incredible cast. It's a great group of people and we get more Ahsoka, we get more Sabine. We get more of these characters in a way that - and as much as we've watched all of the previous shows and everything - it's new storytelling, which is just insane to me. So I hope there's new costumes and I want to know what's going on."

Disney's recent limited edition Star Wars lightsaber hilt releases have included Darth Maul, Asajj Ventress, and Stellan Gios, each selling out within days of release. Next up for this collection is a hilt inspired by Ki-Adi-Mundi, the Cerean Jedi Master that appeared in the prequels. Like the other limited edition lightsaber releases, it will come packaged in a fancy wooden box, and in that box there will be an individually numbered card that tells you that you are the proud owner of one of the 6000 hilts that will exist on this planet.

To top it all off, the box will also include a Disney Parks exclusive edition of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge #1 comic featuring Ki-Adi-Mundi as drawn by Star Wars artists Chris Sprouse (pencils), Karl Story (inks), and Rachelle Rosenberg (colors). The hilt itself will feature intricate detailing, sound effects and a light-up feature that will be activated with a blade that can be purchased separately.

If you want to add it to your collection, the Ki-Adi-Mundi Legacy Lightsaber hilt will arrive today May 31 at 8AM PT / 11am ET right here at the Disney Store priced at $325. You can score free shipping using the code SHIPMAGIC at checkout. We expect that they will sell through those 6000 units fairly quickly, so reserve one while you can. UPDATE: The lightsaber is live!

What Is Star Wars: The Acolyte About?

This Star Wars lightsaber hilt drop is undoubtedly part of the celebration leading up to the debut of Star Wars: The Acolyte on Disney+. In Star Wars: The Acolyte an investigation into a shocking crime spree pits a respected Jedi Master (Lee Jung-jae) against a dangerous warrior from his past (Amandla Stenberg). As more clues emerge, they travel down a dark path where sinister forces reveal all is not what it seems.

Star Wars: The Acolyte stars Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Jodie Turner- Smith, Rebecca Henderson, Dean-Charles Chapman, Joonas Suotamo, and Carrie-Anne Moss. Leslye Headland created the series, based on Star Wars by George Lucas, and serves as an executive producer along with Kathleen Kennedy, Simon Emanuel, Jeff F. King and Jason Micallef. Charmaine DeGrate? and Kor Adana are the co-executive producers. Rayne Roberts, Damian Anderson, Eileen Shim and Rob Bredow are the producers.

The first two episodes of Star Wars: The Acolyte will debut exclusively on Disney+ on June 4th at 6pm PT / 9pm ET.

Star Wars: The Acolyte heads to Disney+ soon, telling a character-driven story that will surely stand out in the Star Wars galaxy. The Acolyte's ensemble cast of characters includes a young alien Jedi named Jecki Lon, played by Logan and His Dark Materials star Dafne Keen. While speaking to ComicBook about Star Wars: The Acolyte, Keen made a connection between Jecki's journey and her own path as a young actor.

"I think I did bring a bit of my own experience into it," Keen explained in our interview, which you can check out above. "Being someone who has been working for over ten years at 19, [it] throws you in at the deep end and forces you to kind of be an adult from a very young age. And I think Jecki has that in her, and sort of this adultness that's not that common in an 18 year old, which is how old Jackie is. So there was a lot of that, and a lot of my perfectionism and her perfectionism, and just how hard-working I think we are, and also how hard on ourselves we are, and competitive. So, a lot of me and her was very similar, which was pretty easy to access."

When Is Star Wars: The Acolyte Set?

Star Wars: The Acolyte is set at the very tail end of the High Republic era, decades prior to the events of the Prequel and Original trilogies. The Acolyte marks the first time that the time period has been portrayed in live-action, after it has already been brought to life in novels, comics, and in the animated series Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures.

"We're taking a look at the political and personal and spiritual things that came up in a time period that we don't know much about," Headland explained in a previous interview. "My question when watching The Phantom Menace was always like, 'Well, how did things get to this point?' How did we get to a point where a Sith lord can infiltrate the Senate and none of the Jedi pick up on it? Like, what went wrong? What are the scenarios that led us to this moment?'"

"We actually use the term the Renaissance, or the Age of Enlightenment," Headland added. "The Jedi uniforms are gold and white, and it's almost like they would never get dirty. They would never be out and about," Headland says. "The idea is that they could have these types of uniforms because that's how little they're getting into skirmishes."

What Is Star Wars: The Acolyte About?

In Star Wars: The Acolyte, an investigation into a shocking crime spree pits a respected Jedi Master (Lee Jung-jae) against a dangerous warrior from his past (Amandla Stenberg). As more clues emerge, they travel down a dark path where sinister forces reveal all is not what it seems.

Star Wars: The Acolyte stars Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Jodie Turner- Smith, Rebecca Henderson, Dean-Charles Chapman, Joonas Suotamo, and Carrie-Anne Moss. Leslye Headland created the series, based on Star Wars by George Lucas, and serves as an executive producer along with Kathleen Kennedy, Simon Emanuel, Jeff F. King and Jason Micallef. Charmaine DeGrate? and Kor Adana are the co-executive producers. Rayne Roberts, Damian Anderson, Eileen Shim and Rob Bredow are the producers.

The first two episodes of Star Wars: The Acolyte will debut exclusively on Disney+ on June 4th at 6pm PST. If you haven't checked out Disney+ yet and you want to give it a go, you can do that here.

Note: This is not a sponsored post, but if you purchase one of the awesome products featured above, we may earn a small commission from the retailer. Thank you for your support.

Star Wars: The Acolyte is debuting on Disney+ next week, and the new series features an exciting line-up of actors. The new Star Wars series stars Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Jodie Turner-Smith, Rebecca Henderson, Dean-Charles Chapman, Joonas Suotamo, and Carrie-Anne Moss. ComicBook recently had the chance to chat with some of the show's cast, including Barnett, who talked about the origin of his Jedi character's name, Yord Fandar. Turns out, series creator Leslye Headland actually got the name from somewhere pretty fun...

"Lowkey, I just heard the story from Leslye and I don't know if she's going to beat me in the butt for saying it. But apparently, she is in a gaming group online and one of - I can't remember what game they play - but I think it's a live-action role-playing game," Barnett explained.

"The friends invented a character named Yord Fandar on the game, and she stole the name and they didn't know basically until they read the first couple scripts and they're like, 'Hey, that's our guy,' and she was like, 'Trust me, he is very Yord.' So I think I have to give credit to them. But it is the fit for his humanity... or lack of humanity," he added with a smile.

You can watch our interview with Barnett at the top of the page.

Charlie Barnett Teases Yord Fandar:

During Star Wars Celebration in London last year, Barnett had a chat with Collider and teased his character, and talked more about working with Headland.

"I am a Jedi Knight, and I've got some really cool hair. I can tell you that." Barnett joked without revealing much else about his Star Wars role. "Leslye is an incredible writer, first and foremost, and the entire team. She's a playwright so she is invested in the story. I think what's most exciting for me, and exciting about working on this, is that through the language, through the development of these characters, you realize that bad and good is at the eyes of the beholder. You know, things are so multilayered and complicated, and it takes a really talented person to write a person that you can see from all of those angles."

"It's a comment on policing, honestly, in my mind, which is why it's so exciting," he added. "We're at a point where we're at our highest, and power can be a difficult thing."

What Is The Acolyte About?

Set during The High Republic, Star Wars: The Acolyte delivers an investigation into a mysterious string of crimes, which pits a Jedi master against his former apprentice in a race to uncover the truth. The more that the pair learn about the situation, the darker their journey becomes, as they confront things that darker than either of them could have imagined.

Star Wars: The Acolyte premieres on Disney+ on June 4th.

When Star Wars: The Acolyte arrives on Disney+ next month, it is expected to play with the conventions of the galaxy far, far away. Set during the franchise's High Republic era, The Acolyte will explore a dark conspiracy among early Force users, including Mae (Amandla Stenberg). In an exclusive interview with ComicBook about Star Wars: The Acolyte, Stenberg spoke about showcasing her Force powers in an unconventional physical way.

"It is the coolest thing ever," Stenberg said in our interview, which you can check out above. "And there's so many things to think about when you think about Force wielding, because we almost get a lot of creative freedom, particularly with this character, around what that looks like for her, because she's not a Jedi and she's not strictly a Sith. So I thought a lot about my hand positioning, I talked about [it] a lot with my master Lou who taught me all my stunt choreography. For me, I thought it would be more interesting... This movement is utilized often and it's the way you're maintaining chi and balance. But I thought for Mae, having it be a little crooked, a little more twisted, would make more sense for her."

When Is Star Wars: The Acolyte Set?

Star Wars: The Acolyte is set at the very tail end of the High Republic era, decades prior to the events of the Prequel and Original trilogies. The Acolyte marks the first time that the time period has been portrayed in live-action, after it has already been brought to life in novels, comics, and in the animated series Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures.

"We're taking a look at the political and personal and spiritual things that came up in a time period that we don't know much about," Headland explained in a previous interview. "My question when watching The Phantom Menace was always like, 'Well, how did things get to this point?' How did we get to a point where a Sith lord can infiltrate the Senate and none of the Jedi pick up on it? Like, what went wrong? What are the scenarios that led us to this moment?'"

"We actually use the term the Renaissance, or the Age of Enlightenment," Headland added. "The Jedi uniforms are gold and white, and it's almost like they would never get dirty. They would never be out and about," Headland says. "The idea is that they could have these types of uniforms because that's how little they're getting into skirmishes."

What Is Star Wars: The Acolyte About?

In Star Wars: The Acolyte, an investigation into a shocking crime spree pits a respected Jedi Master (Lee Jung-jae) against a dangerous warrior from his past (Amandla Stenberg). As more clues emerge, they travel down a dark path where sinister forces reveal all is not what it seems.

Star Wars: The Acolyte stars Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Jodie Turner- Smith, Rebecca Henderson, Dean-Charles Chapman, Joonas Suotamo, and Carrie-Anne Moss. Leslye Headland created the series, based on Star Wars by George Lucas, and serves as an executive producer along with Kathleen Kennedy, Simon Emanuel, Jeff F. King and Jason Micallef. Charmaine DeGrate? and Kor Adana are the co-executive producers. Rayne Roberts, Damian Anderson, Eileen Shim and Rob Bredow are the producers.

The first two episodes of Star Wars: The Acolyte will debut exclusively on Disney+ on June 4th at 6pm PST. If you haven't checked out Disney+ yet and you want to give it a go, you can do that here.

Note: This is not a sponsored post, but if you purchase one of the awesome products featured above, we may earn a small commission from the retailer. Thank you for your support.

Star Wars: The Acolyte is debuting on Disney+ next week, and the new series has gotten early praise from critics. The new Disney+ series is set to take place roughly a full century before the events of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, and Lucasfilm has been getting fans excited by sharing behind-the-scenes featurettes about the project. Today, the official YouTube account for Star Wars shared a conversation between Dave Filoni and The Acoylte's showrunner, Leslye Headland.

"Dave Filoni, Lucasfilm's chief creative officer, and The Acolyte creator Leslye Headland discuss the power and breadth of Star Wars storytelling. On June 4, don't miss the two-episode premiere of #TheAcolyte, a Star Wars Original series, only on Disney+," the video's caption reads. You can check out the video below:

Leslye Headland Teases The Acolyte:

Headland has previously spoken about the series and teased what Star Wars fans can expect.

"We're taking a look at the political and personal and spiritual things that came up in a time period that we don't know much about," Headland explained in a previous interview. "My question when watching The Phantom Menace was always like, 'Well, how did things get to this point?' How did we get to a point where a Sith lord can infiltrate the Senate and none of the Jedi pick up on it? Like, what went wrong? What are the scenarios that led us to this moment?'"

"We actually use the term the Renaissance, or the Age of Enlightenment," Headland added. "The Jedi uniforms are gold and white, and it's almost like they would never get dirty. They would never be out and about," Headland says. "The idea is that they could have these types of uniforms because that's how little they're getting into skirmishes."

"The truth is that I, as a major mega fan, came to them with this idea. And I said, 'I think the best place to put this is in an era you guys have not quite explored yet,'" Headland revealed to Vanity Fair. "They were very enthusiastic. It wasn't that they didn't want to explore that [existing] world, but I think that they already were because The Mandalorian and a lot of the other television projects were really relying on legacy characters."

What Is The Acolyte About?

Set during The High Republic, Star Wars: The Acolyte delivers an investigation into a mysterious string of crimes, which pits a Jedi master against his former apprentice in a race to uncover the truth. The more that the pair learn about the situation, the darker their journey becomes, as they confront things that darker than either of them could have imagined.

The series stars Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Jodie Turner-Smith, Rebecca Henderson, Dean-Charles Chapman, Joonas Suotamo, and Carrie-Anne Moss.

Star Wars: The Acolyte premieres on Disney+ on June 4th.

A new Ubisoft Forward has been announced. The event will take place on June 10th at 12 p.m. PT, and the publisher has already revealed some of the games that will be featured. The line-up will include at least three of the company's big 2024 releases: Star Wars Outlaws, Assassin's Creed Shadows, and XDefiant. While those three games would probably be enough to get a lot of people tuning in, Ubisoft has also teased that additional games will be featured. A pre-show will take place 30 minutes prior, and there will be "a deeper look" at some of these games after the event's conclusion.

Ubisoft Forward will stream live on the company's channels on YouTube (link here) and Twitch (link here). A teaser trailer for the event can be found below.

What Other Games Could be Featured?

While we know of at least three games that will appear at Ubisoft Forward, there are several other possibilities. A 20th anniversary edition of Beyond Good & Evil was confirmed by Ubisoft late last year, following a leak. Unfortunately, there's been no word on the game since, and Ubisoft technically hasn't announced any platforms (though those also seem to have leaked thanks to the ESRB). The game was supposed to be released in early 2024, but that window has pretty much closed at this point. While the original never found a huge audience, there are still a lot of people passionate about the game that are eager to see it remastered. Hopefully the anniversary edition is still coming along smoothly and we'll learn more soon.

Additionally, this could be a great place for an update on the remake of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. Like Beyond Good & Evil - 20th Anniversary Edition, we haven't heard about the remake since late last year, when Ubisoft stated that the game had "passed an important internal milestone." That would seem to indicate that progress has been coming along nicely on the game. While Prince of Persia fans have had a lot to celebrate lately, news on the remake of Sands of Time would be a nice cherry on top.

A Big Month for Gaming Events

Ubisoft Forward is just one of several gaming events that will be taking place in the month of June. In addition to Ubisoft Forward, Summer Game Fest will take place on June 7th, while the Xbox Games Showcase is happening on June 9th. Last but not least, a Nintendo Direct will be happening in June, though a date has not been announced.

Are you planning to check out the Ubisoft Forward event? What games are you hoping to see featured? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp, on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!

Star Wars: The Acolyte will soon begin streaming on Disney+, bringing Star Wars movie and TV fans into The High Republic Era for the first time. That era spans several centuries, and within its lore are stories of how the Jedi were but one of several Force-based religions, who each had their own views on how, when, and why the Force should (or should not) be used by mortal beings.

However, by the time The Acolyte takes place (in the latter part of the High Republic Era), it's clear that the Jedi are the dominant Force religion in the galaxy... until that dominance is suddenly challenged.

The story of The Acolyte will center on a Jedi Master named Sol (Squid Game's Lee Jung-jae) who investigates a warrior named Mae (Amandla Stenberg) who is hunting down Jedi on behalf of her dead sister (a former padawan), and a coven of Force witches, led by Mother Aniseya (Jodie Turner-Smith).

In talking with ComicBook, Amandla Stenberg explained what the rise of a different kind of Force user does to the Jedi's sense of power:

"I think we live in a time in which there are a lot of conceptions around the Force and different communities that utilize the Force. And in our point in the timeline, the Jedi are kind of the ones dictating how the Force is utilized," Stenberg said. "And so I think it's so fascinating for there to be the introduction of this character who utilizes it in a different way, and comes from a different community - almost a different spiritual community. And because of that, she's more of a danger to them, because her kind of way of utilizing it differs from what they're used to."

What Is Star Wars: The High Republic About?

Star Wars launched The High Republic line of novels and comics in 2021; the earliest stories of The High Republic are set about 350 years before the events of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, at a time when different groups of Force users split into opposing factions (like the Jedi and Path of the Open Hand), and how that conflict became a minor war at points, before the Jedi emerged victorious.

A century (or more) later, 200 years before the Skywalker Saga, The Republic and Jedi Order expanded into the Outer Rim territory, after having to negotiate some difficult socio-political-spiritual minefields in the region. The Republic launches "Starlight Beacon" in the Outer Rim, only to have their presence stir dark, deadly threats long dormant in the galaxy. One of those threats is the Nihil, a gang of galactic raiders who have secret technology at their disposal (like the "Path" hyperdrive), as well as ancient species of Force-consuming monsters that are set loose, like the plant monsters the Drengir, or the Force-eating monsters known as the "The Nameless" (or "Shrii Ka Rai").

In the current story arc of Star Wars: The High Republic (still ongoing at the time of writing this), The Jedi find that expansion is deeply costly: The Nihil blow up Starlight Beacon, and between their raids on Republic settlements and use of the Nameless, even some of the most powerful and prominent Jedi of the time are killed in battle. The Nihil go a step further, as their master, Marchion Ro, uses his unique tech to block off a section of the Outer Rim Territories behind a Nihil energy barrier, claiming it as "Nihil space." The Jedi are still working on infiltrating that "Occlusion Zone," hoping to free these civilians, Jedi, and allies trapped inside, while stopping the Nihil once and for all.

The Acolyte will be set 100 years (or so) after the war with the Nihil - a war the Jedi clearly manage their way through, to maintain light and peace in the galaxy. However, it's just as clear that the series will also reveal how cracks of darkness reappeared along the way - including the Sith's return.

Star Wars: The Acolyte will begin streaming on Disney+ on June 4th.

With Star Wars: The Acolyte not only being developed by female filmmakers, but also focusing on a number of female characters, select corners of the Star Wars fandom are already expressing their anger at the mere notion of the story. Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy has addressed these issues, which she's been having to put up with not only in her entire time at the studio but also throughout her career. Kennedy also expressed how it was "terrifying" to merely attempt to tell these stories, given the vitriolic nature of social media. Star Wars: The Acolyte premieres on Disney+ on June 4th.

"Operating within these giant franchises now, with social media and the level of expectation -- it's terrifying," Kennedy shared with The New York Times. "I think [series creator] Leslye [Headland] has struggled a little bit with it. I think a lot of the women who step into Star Wars struggle with this a bit more. Because of the fan base being so male-dominated, they sometimes get attacked in ways that can be quite personal."

She added, "My belief is that storytelling does need to be representative of all people. That's an easy decision for me."

Headland herself also weighed in on the matter, explaining not only how she has to walk a "razor's edge" of fan expectations in regards to representation, but also giving herself the freedom to tell the story that organically unfolds in front of her.

"As a fan myself, I know how frustrating some Star Wars storytelling in the past has been. I've felt it myself. I stand by my empathy for Star Wars fans. But I want to be clear. Anyone who engages in bigotry, racism, or hate speech ... I don't consider a fan," the showrunner detailed. As far as her storytelling is concerned, "You're thinking, 'This is what people want from Star Wars. This is what people don't want.' It can mess with your head. During the creative process, I had to give myself the forgiveness, as an artist, to fall off the razor - as long as I got back up. That was my promise to myself."

Set during The High Republic, Star Wars: The Acolyte delivers an investigation into a mysterious string of crimes, which pits a Jedi master against his former apprentice in a race to uncover the truth. The more that the pair learn about the situation, the darker their journey becomes, as they confront things that darker than either of them could have imagined.

The series stars Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Jodie Turner-Smith, Rebecca Henderson, Dean-Charles Chapman, Joonas Suotamo, and Carrie-Anne Moss. Star Wars: The Acolyte premieres on Disney+ on June 4th.

What do you think of the filmmakers' remarks? Contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

Hasbro has been on a tear lately with Star Wars The Black Series reissues, and that trend continues today with the relaunch of the Archive Collection Bossk which first debuted in 2018, along with Doctor Aphra comic-inspired 0-0-0 and BT-1 figures from 2019. All three of these figures run in the $60-$70 range through 3rd parties, but they are back up for pre-order via the links below at the standard retail price of $24.99. If the previous reissues are anything to go by, they won't be available for long. Note the U.S. shipping is free at Entertainment Earth on orders $79+.

• Star Wars The Black Series 0-0-0 Figure - See at Entertainment Earth
• Star Wars The Black Series BT-1 Figure - See at Entertainment Earth
• Star Wars The Black Series Archive Bossk Figure - See at Entertainment Earth

Last week Hasbro reissued Ahsoka Tano, Hera Syndulla, and Sabine Wren. These figures first launched in 2020 and are inspired by the Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels animated series. Unfortunately, they sold out quickly at their $24.99 list price, but keep tabs on the links below in the unlikely event that there's a restock.

• Star Wars: The Clone Wars The Black Series Ahsoka Tano Figure - See at Entertainment Earth
• Star Wars Rebels The Black Series Hera Syndulla Figure - See at Entertainment Earth
• Star Wars Rebels The Black Series Sabine Wren Figure - See at Entertainment Earth

Note that Hasbro also reissued Clone Captain Rex and Clone Commander Fox figures earlier this month. They were first revealed in 2018 and 2019 respectively, and sold out of this second run quickly. Again, restocks are unlikely, but keep tabs on the links below just in case.

• Star Wars The Black Series Captain Rex / $24.99 - See at Entertainment Earth: Inspired by Star Wars: The Clone Wars, this figure includes a removable helmet and blaster accessory.
• Star Wars The Black Series Clone Commander Fox / $24.99 - See at Entertainment Earth: Inspired by Star Wars: The Clone Wars, this figure includes blaster accessories.
• If you missed out on all of the new releases for Star Wars Day 2024, we have you covered right here. This includes several new figures in Hasbro's Black Series, The Vintage Collection and Retro Collection lineups.

Star Wars: The Acolyte Honors All Eras Of Star Wars

With Star Wars: The Acolyte taking place in The High Republic, the canvas is a lot more open for the creative team to spread their wings. Such an idea makes Leslie Headland very excited. She told Total Film that her approach to the Disney+ series was to include as much Star Wars as possible. So, expect elements from all across the franchise to pop-up in unexpected and delightful ways when The Acolyte streams on Disney+. This has remained a fun element of the current era of Star Wars. Creators can sift through untold tomes of ideas to make their own shows or movies. While paying respect to, and rewarding longterm fans for their investment.

Headland told the site, "It's a show packed with everything I wanted to explore: I wanted EU [Expanded Universe] stuff in there, references to the original trilogy, The Phantom Menace, the Disney sequels... it's absolutely packed. Because you never know, you may not get the chance again."

"[Cinematographer] Chris [Teague] and I talked a lot about honoring George Lucas' camera moves," the showruner continued. "I would say the original trilogy became our touchpoint for how to craft the world, while the Episode I-ness of the show is a bit more thematic."

Star Wars: The Acolyte premieres on Disney+ on June 4th.

The new featurette for The Acolyte features principal cast members Amandla Stenberg (former padawan Mae), Manny Jacinto (ex-smuggler Qimir), Dafne Keen (padawan Jecki Lon), Charlie Barnett (Jedi Knight Yord Fandar) and Carrie Anne-Moss (Jedi Master Indara) all sitting down and sharing their reflections on the production.

Keen shared how "Star Wars has always been a big part of my life," with Moss (a veteran of big franchises like The Matrix) echoing that "I'm pretty honored to be a part of something that's impacted so many people."

Stenberg got profound, talking about how "I've always loved spending time in these universes. And the concepts that Star Wars explores feel like some of the most vital ones."

In The Acolyte, The Jedi are a galaxy-spanning force in the prime of their strength. However, The Jedi do not realize (as any math-trained viewer will) that they are standing on the precipice of disastrous collapse, as the long-forgotten threat of the Sith begins again - a dark resurgence that will finally destroy the Jedi and Republic, a century later.

Even without knowing more about the details of the story, it's already clear that The Acolyte will be a timely metaphoric warning for how conflicting views on power and politics can allow darker ideologies to take hold, and push a society onto the pathway toward ruin. Everything to keep in mind in a major election year.

On a lighter note, Moss addressed the thrill of filming the action sequences of The Acolyte - a part of the series that showrunner Leslye Headland and the stunt team are already getting critical praise for delivering on.

Jacinto spoke on the longevity of Star Wars being due to its "incredible characters" who "every generation just sees themselves in them."

Why Is Star Wars: The Acolyte Set In The High Republic Era?

The Acolyte takes place during "The High Republic" era of Star Wars, when f The Jedi's power and ranks are at their respective strongest, after the Jedi-Sith War. No Sith appear in that High Republic span of 350-200 years before The Phantom Menace; but as showrunner Leslye Headland tells it, The Acolyte will track how the Sith threat secretly rebuilt itself in the final part of that era, 100 years before the Skywalker Saga begins:

"I think The High Republic is just a place where the Jedi find themselves almost a little too safe," Headland explained. "They're almost in this place where they can't imagine a threat coming at them. So I think what Mae starts with them is something that really ruffles their feathers. They definitely were not expecting someone to come at them straight-on."

"We're taking place in a part of the timeline where the Jedi have no reason to think that anybody would mess with them," Headland added. "And therefore I think you see the characters sinking into different versions of their own comfort."

Star Wars: The Acolyte begins streaming on June 4th on Disney+.

To quote Yoda: "Hard to see, the dark side is."

Lucasfilm has described Star Wars: The Acolyte as "a mystery-thriller that will take the audience into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark side powers in the final days of the High Republic era." The Disney+ series is set a century before the events of The Phantom Menace, where the Jedi Council balked at Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn's suggestion that Darth Maul -- the black-clad, horn-headed assassin-apprentice of Darth Sidious -- was a Sith Lord because the Sith "have been extinct for a millennium."

So who, then, is that grin-masked murderer (pictured on the right, below) wielding a red-bladed lightsaber on their Jedi killing spree?

Series creator and showrunner Leslye Headland demurred when asked about the phantom menace pulling the strings in The Acolyte, but did offer a cryptic tease at the show's as-yet-unrevealed villain: "It's the inner-saboteur," Headland told ComicBook. "The bad guy inside all of us."

To paraphrase another Jedi Master, that's the truth... from a certain point of view. In The Acolyte, one perspective is Mae's (Amandla Stenberg), a former student of Jedi Master Sol (Lee Jung-jae) turned mysterious masked assassin.

"You will discover it when you're watching the show. It will be revealed," Headland previously told The Hollywood Reporter about the identity of the titular acolyte, and whether they're an apprentice of the Sith or the Jedi. "One thing to know about the show is that we've been talking about it as a mystery-thriller. It is a serialized story, so each episode gives you more information about the story."

"We were obviously influenced by samurai films and wuxia films, but also films like Rashomon, where you see one story and then you see it done a different way," Headland added. "So, what separates [Star Wars: The Acolyte] from some of the other Star Wars series is that it's told in that particular way."

For all the talk of the light side and the dark side, The Acolyte exists in shades of gray.

"People who are good guys can be bad guys, and people who are bad guys can be good guys. There's a lot of moral ambiguity, which is why Jodie's [Turner-Smith] line in the trailer is so important: 'This isn't about good or bad; this is about power and who is allowed to use it,'" Headland explained. "And I believe, of course, that the Jedi are a benevolent, well-intentioned institution, but they are an institution and they have amassed all the power. So the question becomes when did that happen, and since we know where they're headed in Phantom Menace, what went wrong? What are the cracks in that? So you definitely get the point of view of the Jedi, especially in terms of Amandla's character and trying to stop her and hunt her down. But you also get enough of Amandla's character's perspective that you can also see how both of them exist simultaneously."

Star Wars: The Acolyte premieres June 4 on Disney+.

Early next month, Disney+ subscribers will be treated to Star Wars: The Acolyte, the latest live-action series set within the galaxy far, far away. The Acolyte already stands out for being set years before the main Star Wars saga, but the franchise timeline has naturally begged the question of whether or not certain canonically older characters will make cameo appearances. While speaking to ComicBook, The Acolyte creator Leslye Headland confirmed that Yoda and other existing Star Wars characters will not factor into the series, with a handful of exceptions.

"Can you imagine?" Headland said in our interview, which you can check out above. "Can you imagine if they were like, 'No problem, you can use Yoda. Not a big deal. Go for it.' No, there is not... We are pulling characters from the High Republic and characters from EU, but that's it."

When Is Star Wars: The Acolyte Set?

Star Wars: The Acolyte is set at the very tail end of the High Republic era, decades prior to the events of the Prequel and Original trilogies. The Acolyte marks the first time that the time period has been portrayed in live-action, after it has already been brought to life in novels, comics, and in the animated series Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures.

"We're taking a look at the political and personal and spiritual things that came up in a time period that we don't know much about," Headland explained in a previous interview. "My question when watching The Phantom Menace was always like, 'Well, how did things get to this point?' How did we get to a point where a Sith lord can infiltrate the Senate and none of the Jedi pick up on it? Like, what went wrong? What are the scenarios that led us to this moment?'"

"We actually use the term the Renaissance, or the Age of Enlightenment," Headland added. "The Jedi uniforms are gold and white, and it's almost like they would never get dirty. They would never be out and about," Headland says. "The idea is that they could have these types of uniforms because that's how little they're getting into skirmishes."

What Is Star Wars: The Acolyte About?

In Star Wars: The Acolyte, an investigation into a shocking crime spree pits a respected Jedi Master (Lee Jung-jae) against a dangerous warrior from his past (Amandla Stenberg). As more clues emerge, they travel down a dark path where sinister forces reveal all is not what it seems.

Star Wars: The Acolyte stars Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Jodie Turner- Smith, Rebecca Henderson, Dean-Charles Chapman, Joonas Suotamo, and Carrie-Anne Moss. Leslye Headland created the series, based on Star Wars by George Lucas, and serves as an executive producer along with Kathleen Kennedy, Simon Emanuel, Jeff F. King and Jason Micallef. Charmaine DeGrate? and Kor Adana are the co-executive producers. Rayne Roberts, Damian Anderson, Eileen Shim and Rob Bredow are the producers.

The first two episodes of Star Wars: The Acolyte will debut exclusively on Disney+ on June 4th at 6pm PST. If you haven't checked out Disney+ yet and you want to give it a go, you can do that here.

Note: This is not a sponsored post, but if you purchase one of the awesome products featured above, we may earn a small commission from the retailer. Thank you for your support.

Star Wars: The Acolyte brings viewers to a whole new era of the Star Wars timeline: The High Republic Era, which ran from 350 years to 200 years before the start of the Skywalker Saga. However, The Acolyte will be the first Star Wars property to bring the story of the High Republic into its waning days, roughly 100 years before the events of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.

There's been a lot of buzz in the Star Wars fandom about why The Acolyte showrunner Leslye Headland chose to set the story of the series in that largely undefined period in the Star Wars canon. And during the press day for Star Wars: The Acolyte, we had to ask Headland for more explanation on that topic:

"If I want to tell my own story, what am I the most interested in? And it was the rise of the Sith," Headland explained. "How did the 'Rule of Two' continue for all of this time until Sidious and Maul reveal themselves in The Phantom Menace? So that just sparked, for me, the most interesting place for it [the show] to take place.

Why Is Star Wars: The Acolyte Set In The High Republic Era?

The big selling point of The High Republic has been its depiction of The Jedi during a time when their power and ranks are at their respective strongest, after the Jedi-Sith War. Even as the dark side of the Force has appeared to threaten the Jedi and Republic at times, it's been relegated to groups of non-Force users employing using dark side as an anti-Jedi weapon, or ancient Force-sensitive creatures running amok. No Sith appear in that High Republic span of 350-200 years before The Phantom Menace; as Leslye Headland tells it, The Acolyte will track how the Sith threat secretly rebuilt itself in the final part of that era:

"I think The High Republic is just a place where the Jedi find themselves almost a little too safe," Headland explained. "They're almost in this place where they can't imagine a threat coming at them. So I think what Mae starts with them is something that really ruffles their feathers. They definitely were not expecting someone to come at them straight-on."

With that kind of thematic arc, The Acolyte could end up echoing what life has been for many Millennial generation Star Wars fans: a sense of safety and stability that gets utterly shattered by tragedy:

"We're taking place in a part of the timeline where the Jedi have no reason to think that anybody would mess with them," Headland said. "And therefore I think you see the characters sinking into different versions of their own comfort."

How these characters react to the role of Jedi suddenly being thrown into question - and the offer of a different path with the Sith - is why we'll be tuning into The Acolyte when it starts streaming on June 4th on Disney+.

A list of ligthsaber replicas that are expected to be part of the sale can be found below, though it is subject to change. Additional options will likely be available. Note that Disney will be launching their Jedi Master Ki-Adi-Mundi lightsaber hilt online on May 31st at 8am PT / 11am ET, so you'll want to be ready and waiting for that to drop later this week as well. Each hilt features intricate detailing and sound effects, and will illuminate with a lightsaber blade which is sold separately in most cases.

• Plo Koon lightsaber hilt
• Kanan Jarrus lightsaber hilt
  
• Kylo Ren lightsaber hilt
• Darth Sidious lightsaber hilt
• Ahsoka Tano lightsaber hilts
• Ahsoka Tano lightsaber set
• Luke Skywalker lightsaber hilt
• Skywalker legacy set
• Anakin Skywalker lightsaber hilt
• Darth Vader lightsaber hilt
• Cal Kestis lightsaber hilt
• Darksaber legacy Set
• Mace Windu lightsaber hilt
  
• Yoda lightsaber hilt
• Count Dooku lightsaber hilt
• Ezra Bridger ligthsaber hilt
• 36-inch lightsaber blade

What Is Star Wars: The Acolyte About?

This Star Wars lightsaber deal is undoubtedly part of the celebration leading up to the debut of Star Wars: The Acolyte on Disney+. In Star Wars: The Acolyte an investigation into a shocking crime spree pits a respected Jedi Master (Lee Jung-jae) against a dangerous warrior from his past (Amandla Stenberg). As more clues emerge, they travel down a dark path where sinister forces reveal all is not what it seems.

Star Wars: The Acolyte stars Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Jodie Turner- Smith, Rebecca Henderson, Dean-Charles Chapman, Joonas Suotamo, and Carrie-Anne Moss. Leslye Headland created the series, based on Star Wars by George Lucas, and serves as an executive producer along with Kathleen Kennedy, Simon Emanuel, Jeff F. King and Jason Micallef. Charmaine DeGrate? and Kor Adana are the co-executive producers. Rayne Roberts, Damian Anderson, Eileen Shim and Rob Bredow are the producers.

The first two episodes of Star Wars: The Acolyte will debut exclusively on Disney+ on June 4th at 6pm PT / 9pm ET.

The two-episode premiere of Star Wars: The Acolyte is almost here, weaving an ambitious tale about various Jedi during the High Republic era. The Acolyte is already being praised for its star-studded cast and massive fight sequences -- and we have new insight about how those sequences came together. While speaking to ComicBook about Star Wars: The Acolyte, Jecki Lon actress Dafne Keen revealed one unexpected side-effect of working on the series -- accidentally breaking the prop lightsabers during fight scenes.

"Well, first of all, I broke at least five lightsabers on my first day, because I'd hit them really hard in the lead," Keen explained in our interview, which you can check out above. "I was like, 'I'm fired.' Also, how much money did I just cost Disney? Truly, there is no sense of shame stronger than when an AD looks at you with disappointment, and the looks of disappointment I was getting from ADs. They just look at me and they'd be like, 'Dafne broke another saber.' And you're like, 'Oh my God, I wanna actually die.' And they're like, 'It's ok. Can you bring another one in?' And you're like, 'Oh God.' So, a lot of that. Also, very shamefully, I'm short, so my saber kept hitting the ground whenever I spun it. So they had to give me a shorter saber, which also not very cool when they're like, 'Here's a smaller one.' They're like, 'Oh, cute.'"

What Is Star Wars: The Acolyte About?

In Star Wars: The Acolyte, an investigation into a shocking crime spree pits a respected Jedi Master (Lee Jung-jae) against a dangerous warrior from his past (Amandla Stenberg). As more clues emerge, they travel down a dark path where sinister forces reveal all is not what it seems.

Star Wars: The Acolyte stars Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Jodie Turner- Smith, Rebecca Henderson, Dean-Charles Chapman, Joonas Suotamo, and Carrie-Anne Moss. Leslye Headland created the series, based on Star Wars by George Lucas, and serves as an executive producer along with Kathleen Kennedy, Simon Emanuel, Jeff F. King and Jason Micallef. Charmaine DeGrate? and Kor Adana are the co-executive producers. Rayne Roberts, Damian Anderson, Eileen Shim and Rob Bredow are the producers.

The first two episodes of Star Wars: The Acolyte will debut exclusively on Disney+ on June 4th at 6pm PST. If you haven't checked out Disney+ yet and you want to give it a go, you can do that here.

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Star Wars: The Acolyte will be a murder mystery whodunit about a mysterious assassin taking out Jedi - but the show will also be set in an entirely new place on the Star Wars Timeline: 100 years before the start of the Skywalker Saga began with Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.

The Acolyte will be set in the time known as "The High Republic Era" - a period that has been fully introduced and explored in Star Wars novels and comics since 2021. However, those books have kept to earlier parts of the High Republic Era - spanning anywhere from 200 to 350 years before Phantom Menace. That means The Acoylyte showrunner Leslye Headland is truly working within unexplored terrain - while also shouldering the massive responsibility of creating the biggest bridge yet between Star Wars' High Republic and Skywalker Saga eras.

When Star Wars first launched The High Republic line, it was touted as being the first look at the Jedi (and to a lesser extent, the Republic) at the height of their power and prosperity, after winning the Jedi-Sith War. The series began by chronicling how the Jedi and Republic first expanded "civilization" into the Outer Rim Territories - only to learn through tragic experience that there are already powerful groups and organizations that have long claimed that territory as their own. The series then jumped back in time even further, to further reveal how the Jedi were only one form of Force-user group in the galaxy - Jedi being the group that seized the most prominent role as "peacekeepers."

When The High Republic launched, Star Wars fans were clear in their view that there was a massive obligation for the series to also be seeded with examples of how The Jedi and Republic overplayed their hand, allowing a resurgence of The Sith, which would eventually destroy the Republic and Jedi Order, by Darth Sidious/Emperor Palpatine, the ultimate enemy of both.

To its credit, The High Republic has done just that: the folly of the Jedi believing they are unequaled amongst Force users - as well as blurring the lines between being peacekeepers and cops/soldiers - has been part of the series' subtext, all along. It's now on The Acolyte to show how those bad seeds planted in the High Republic Era ultimately bloomed into ensnaring threats (The Sith, witch covens, political foes like the Trade Federation) that ended The High Republic era and started the Clone Wars. That's no small feat, to be sure: but if Headland and co. pull it off, it could end up being one of the greatest and most important chapters of Star Wars that's been told.

So far, first reactions to Star Wars: The Acolyte hint that the show may rise to the task.

Star Wars: The Acolyte will premiere Episodes 1-2 on Disney+ on June 4th.

In March of 2022, Walt Disney World Resort unveiled one of its most ambitious projects to date with the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser immersive hotel, and in September 2023, the hotel shuttered its doors. While there are a number of factors that contributed to what made Disney pull the plug on the project entirely, YouTuber Jenny Nicholson recently shared an exhaustive deep-dive on her channel that chronicles the history of the hotel, from its inception to her own experience in the hotel to the aftermath of its closure announcement. Given that fans no longer have the opportunity to check out the hotel for themselves, Nicholson's video is arguably the closest someone could get to visiting the Galactic Starcruiser themselves. You can check out the full-length video on her page or in the video below.

Rumors of the destination emerged in 2017 and it was ultimately confirmed at that year's D23, but given that Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge was set to be opening at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resort before the opening of the Galactic Satacruiser, fans were more focused on those openings. While audiences were thrilled that Galaxy's Edge would offer fans an opportunity to immerse themselves in a galaxy far, far away, there was immediate trepidation over the fact that the location would be the all-new Black Spire Outpost on Batuu, as opposed to any recognizable world from the franchise.

Excitement grew about Galaxy's Edge when it opened at both Disneyland and Disney World in 2019, but initial reception wasn't quite as overwhelming as expected, with the coronavirus pandemic then also understandably taking a major toll on the entire amusement park industry. Galactic Starcruiser was initially set to open in 2021, but the unveiling was pushed to 2022 due to the pandemic.

Much like Galaxy's Edge, the first reactions to Galactic Starcruiser were negative, as one of the first major pieces of information revealed about it was that its cheapest room for two people cost nearly $5,000 for two nights. Even though all the bells and whistles of staying in an immersive, Star Wars-themed hotel were exciting, the sticker shock alone made fans doubtful of the experience justifying the cost.

As Nicholson expresses in her channel, while there were glimmers of fun and fulfilling experiences, a number of interface issues prevented her (and countless other guests who voiced similar opinions on social media) from feeling like she was part of her own adventure in which her actions impacted her stay. With Disney often expressing that the high cost wasn't just for the accommodations, but also for the gameplay element in which you would interact with cast members and have that impact your journey, for these crucial components to be missing from so many guests' time in the Galactic Starcruiser, it was a disappointment.

The estimated costs of building the hotel range from hundreds of millions all the way up to $1 billion, so it's hard not to view the project as a major misstep, as it was intended to be a permanent destination at the park instead of a temporary installation. There were reportedly plans to possibly alter the theme of the hotel to focus on the Disney+ TV series The Mandalorian, though Disney instead opted to close the hotel entirely.

It's currently unknown what Disney intends to do with the space going forward.

What did you think of the Galactic Starcruiser? Contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

With Season 2 of Star Wars: Andor set to lead right into the events of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, audiences know exactly where Diego Luna's journey as Cassian Andor is headed, but the same can't be said of Adria Arjona's Bix Caleen. Given that it's currently unknown where Bix's journey will take her, Arjona recently addressed whether we could see Andor as a launching point for a spinoff featuring Bix, and the actor admitted she isn't currently thinking about it, though she could see such an opportunity for further adventures at some point in the future.

When asked directly by Variety about Bix potentially getting a spinoff, Arjona expressed, "I feel like a big spinoff could be later in my career. I'm trying to give job security to myself in the future. I'm trying to elongate it. I got a tattoo for Bix. My makeup artist from the show did it in my trailer."

Whereas the first season of Andor unfolded in a relatively linear timeline, we know that Season 2 of the series will span the course of four years. While Season 2 of the series wrapped filming earlier this year, audiences have yet to get an official look at the project or know when it will be released, with it being entirely possible that Bix doesn't play a major part of the upcoming storyline or even survive the entire experience.

Season 1 of Andor also introduced audiences to Kino Loy, played by Andy Serkis, who proved to be an integral part of Andor's journey. Serkis was previously a bit more optimistic about what the future held for his character.

"Well, there weren't really many discussions about the afterlife of Kino. All that we do know is that he survives. I mean, we don't see him die. We see him left for a further life of the character," Serkis explained to Entertainment Weekly last year. "But prior to that, there were no discussions at all about [what] might happen afterwards. I was just excited enough about the arc that I had to play, which was a really beautifully crafted illustration of a man who has a belief system that gets broken that then has nothing to believe in, that then gets kind of reignited by someone who inspires him to find himself again, and then self-sacrifices."

He continued, "So it was a really extraordinary journey to go on within a prison setting, and a very sterile prison setting - quite a heartfelt journey considering the environment that they're in ... But that's the brilliance about Tony Gilroy's writing. He provides these environments for characters to thrive and survive in. And you learn about their internal journey, their psychology, their complexities and flaws in response to the world that they're in."

Stay tuned for updates on Season 2 of Star Wars: Andor.

Would you like to see Bix get a spinoff? Contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

The highly-anticipated new Disney+ series, Star Wars: The Acolyte, is debuting on the streaming site next month, and the first reactions to the series have been very positive. The show features many exciting stars, including Dafne Keen, who is best known for playing Laura/X-23 in Logan. In The Acolyte, Keen is playing a Jedi padawan named Jecki Lon. During a recent chat with Empire, Keen compared the Jedi to an unlikely legend: David Bowie.

"As soon as we put that makeup on, I went to [showrunner Leslye Headland] and I was like, 'This is David Bowie.' And she was like, 'You're absolutely right.' We had the running joke that it was like Jedi David Bowie. Jedi Bowie, like, duh! It's almost funky '70s, '80s-looking, which is really cool. I was so excited by the braid - as a Star Wars fan, to get a Padawan braid is, like, the sickest thing ever. I was so excited when they put it in. 'Oh my god, I have my own Padawan braid!' It was really cool."

During the chat, Keen also teased her character's dynamic with the other Jedi, and called Jecki Lon "mature beyond her years."

Keen teases a "really fun dynamic between Jecki and Charlie Barnett's character Yord [Fandar] - he's a great friend of mine, I adore him. Jecki's much more competent than he is, the entire time. But he's a Knight, because he's older. So there's this really interesting dynamic of him being a little bit useless, and her being like, 'You need to step your game up.' Which was really fun to play."

"We already knew he was talented because we've all seen him," she added of Lee Jung-jae, who is playing Jecki's Master, Sol. "But he was doing scenes in a language that's not his own. He didn't know English! He was learning the lines, and he was killing it. He was doing a better job than 90% of us on set, it was insane."

What Is The Acolyte About?

Set during The High Republic, Star Wars: The Acolyte delivers an investigation into a mysterious string of crimes, which pits a Jedi master against his former apprentice in a race to uncover the truth. The more that the pair learn about the situation, the darker their journey becomes, as they confront things that darker than either of them could have imagined.

The series stars Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Jodie Turner-Smith, Rebecca Henderson, Dean-Charles Chapman, Joonas Suotamo, and Carrie-Anne Moss. Star Wars: The Acolyte premieres on Disney+ on June 4th.

Star Wars: The Acolyte is premiering on Disney+ next month, and the first reactions to the series have been extremely positive. The new Disney+ series is set to take place roughly a full century before the events of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, and features a star-studded lineup of actors, including Carrie-Anne Moss. Of course, this isn't Moss' first foray into sci-fi. The actor is best known for playing Trinity in The Matrix films. Recently, the star spoke with Empire and explained how The Matrix helped her play a Jedi in The Acolyte.

"Yeah, I think all of my history of learning to fight and- This was very different though, because I was by myself. I had always done [The Matrix] with my co-stars, and there's a certain energy," Moss explained. "[On The Acolyte] I was on my own, with my team, which was great because I got to ignite and access a part of myself. I was like, 'I want to do everything.' I loved it more than I can remember loving doing something in a long time. 'I'm strong. I can learn this. I can show up, and I can find that containment.' With fighting, it's very hard for me not to make faces - to constantly bring it back in, where it's almost effortless. It looks effortless, and yet it's not. [laughs] That was fun to play with. I told [showrunner Leslye Headland], 'I do not want to be making a lot of faces. I want it to be right.'"

"It was tricky," she added of having to fight in Jedi robes. "My physical blocks actually came from the costume. It's really important to practice in the costumes. They're heavy. There was a boning in the bodice - actually the costume injured me the most, because I didn't have any movement in a certain area of my back, in my shoulders. That was something I had to do a lot of recovery with. The costume gives you the character. It definitely gave the image, but to actually be free within the fighting, it was a challenge. Between action and cut, you go into this zone - it's only when you go back to your hotel room, you're like, 'Oh my gosh. This is really hurting.'"

Star Wars: The Acolyte debuts on June 4th, exclusively on Disney+.

The ComicBook Nation crew breaks down the new trailers for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the Stranger Things Prequel "First Shadow," and Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F. There are also reviews of the first summer 2024 movies, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and Garfield Movie.

PLUS: What to know about the Summer kickoff of some big WWE and AEW PPV events! - and first reactions to Star Wars: The Acolyte are in!

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga Review

ComicBook critic Spencer Perry's Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga Review gives the film 4.5. out of 5 stars:

Comparisons to Fury Road will no doubt bounce about like a flaming tire rolling down a well-paved Wasteland street, but Furiosa and Fury Road are focused on different things. Though there are similarities to be found, and several characters and key locations appear in both, Furiosa is aiming for something closer in nature to Spartacus or Lawrence of Arabia than Fury Road, despite their aesthetic overlap and narrative loops. If there's a fault to find in Furiosa, it's that some of its attempts to really connect itself to Fury Road aren't seamless. It's not that they don't work, but the timeline of events becomes slightly muddled, which is the film's only real stumbling block and the kind of flaw that will fade into dust with time.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is equal parts post-apocalyptic action thriller and biblical epic. Even if you think you've seen what this world has to offer, there are still surprises to find in the sand.

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Fans who watched the original Star Wars trilogy before 1997 have an entirely different outlook on the franchise than those who watch the films after that point, as creator George Lucas made technological changes to the films to meet the special effects standards of the time, while also making some narrative edits to the stories themselves. While some of those older audiences who prefer the pre-Special Edition versions of the trilogy sometimes hold out hope that those cuts will get an official release, Lucas himself recently reflected on how he not only stands by those decisions, but how he also believes any filmmaker has the right to make any changes to their movies to fully realize their intended vision.

"I'm a firm believer that the director, or the writer, or the filmmaker should have a right to have his movie be the way he wants it," Lucas shared at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, per The Hollywood Reporter. "We did release the original one on laserdisc and everybody got really mad, they said, 'It looks terrible.' And I said, 'Yeah, I know it did ... That is what it looked like."

Both Lucas himself and studio Lucasfilm have expressed how the Special Edition versions of the films should be considered the definitive versions of the movies. The best official release of those original films came in 2006, when a DVD release included both the Special Edition versions of the trilogy, as well as "Unaltered" versions of the movies. More minor tweaks were made to the films for the Blu-ray, 4K Ultra HD, and streaming releases.

Despite some fans holding out hope for the Unaltered editions to be released at some point, The Mandalorian creator Jon Favreau previously expressed how unlikely that would be, while also expressing that fans clamoring for such a release were in the minority.

When asked by Moovy TV in 2023 if Favreau had enough clout at Lucasfilm to get the theatrical cuts of the films released, Favreau explained, "Do you think anybody but us, the people who grew up with it, anybody would care? I know to ... Younger people, that's what I figured out, that the younger people have a whole different perception of what Star Wars is, each generation. For the millennials, it's the prequels. Zoomers, sometimes it's [Star Wars:] The Clone Wars. I've seen people come up to [Clone Wars creator] Dave Filoni and that's their entree into it."

Stay tuned for updates on the future of Star Wars.

What do you think of the filmmaker's remarks? Contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

In 2019, acclaimed director Martin Scorsese became a trending topic for comparing superhero films to theme parks. The director's comments about Marvel are often brought up in interviews with various big names in Hollywood, and everyone seems to have a different opinion. Recently, Star Wars creator George Lucas was interviewed at Cannes by Brut 9, and was asked his thoughts on Scorsese saying that Marvel movies weren't cinema.

"Look. Cinema is the art of a moving image," Lucas explained. "So if the image moves, then it's cinema. I think Marty has kind of changed his mind a little bit." Lucas went on to talk about working with Scorsese and the Film Foundation, and how the Goodfellas director was originally opposed to making movies on digital, but he also came around on that idea.

During the chat, Lucas also confirmed he is done making movies.

"No, I'm retired," Lucas confirmed. "The last one I did as a producer was a thing called Strange Magic, which is an animated film. So I was doing movies that I wanted to do rather than ... I was financing myself and had my own studio ... I am building a museum in Los Angeles. It's keeping me very busy."

"The stories they're telling are just old movies," he added of Hollywood. "'Let's do a sequel, let's do another version of this movie' ... There's no original thinking ... The big studios, they don't have an imagination." You can watch the full interview below:

"J'?tais ? la plage, ? faire des ch?teaux de sables avec Steven Spielberg. Des amis m'ont appel? en disant : regarde les infos [...], c'est l? que j'ai compris que Star Wars ?tait un vrai succ?s."
Conversation entre @ATrapenard et George Lucas, qui re?oit une Palme d'or d'honneur... pic.twitter.com/uXMN78AktA

-- Brut FR (@brutofficiel) May 24, 2024

George Lucas Talks Star Wars Sequels:

In another Cannes interview, Lucas talked about the Star Wars sequels: The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and The Rise of Skywalker.

"I was the one one who really knew what Star Wars was ... who actually knew this world, because there's a lot to it. The Force, for example, nobody understood the Force," Lucas shared at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, per The Hollywood Reporter. "When they started other ones after I sold the company, a lot of the ideas that were in [the original] sort of got lost. But that's the way it is. You give it up, you give it up."

Earlier this year, Lucas publicly shared his support for Disney CEO Bob Iger during a proxy battle over the control of the company.

"Creating magic is not for amateurs," Lucas explained in a public statement at the time. "When I sold Lucasfilm just over a decade ago, I was delighted to become a Disney shareholder because of my longtime admiration for its iconic brand and Bob Iger's leadership."

Stay tuned for more updates about Star Wars and Marvel.

Back in 2012, George Lucas sold Lucasfilm to Disney for $4 billion, and for the past decade, the filmmaker hasn't been directly involved in any of the stories being told in the galaxy far, far away. Much like how fans have had mixed responses to the movies and TV shows Lucasfilm has released, Lucas himself admits that he thinks some of the core components of his original trilogy "got lost" with stories Disney produced. Even with that reaction, though, Lucas admits that by giving something up, you have to move on from it, regardless of how you feel about the final product.

"I was the one one who really knew what Star Wars was ... who actually knew this world, because there's a lot to it. The Force, for example, nobody understood the Force," Lucas shared at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, per The Hollywood Reporter. "When they started other ones after I sold the company, a lot of the ideas that were in [the original] sort of got lost. But that's the way it is. You give it up, you give it up."

Even though Lucas feels Disney projects have lost some of the spirit of his originals and even though he is no longer directly crafting stories, the storyteller does still visit the sets of various projects and consult with filmmakers. When Lucas visited the set of Star Wars: Andor, for example, second unit director Sam Hargrave likened it to witnessing a real-life Jedi master.

"I was there but, I mean, I was working on another stage," Hargrave recalled to Collider last year. "But I did pass through, and I saw him there. He was actually - you would've thought that the real Yoda had showed up. I mean, he kind of did. But there was more people there that day than any other day on any other, you know, episode of the whole season. That was as if you were at Comic-Con on the stage where he was. It was crazy."

Additionally, just earlier this year, Lucas publicly shared his support for Disney CEO Bob Iger during a proxy battle over the control of the company.

"Creating magic is not for amateurs," Lucas explained in a public statement at the time. "When I sold Lucasfilm just over a decade ago, I was delighted to become a Disney shareholder because of my longtime admiration for its iconic brand and Bob Iger's leadership."

Stay tuned for updates on the future of Star Wars.

What do you think of Lucas's remarks? Contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

Back in 2013, comedian Patton Oswalt appeared on Parks & Rec in the show's fifth season. In the episode "Article Two," Oswalt's Garth Blundon filibusters by describing how he thinks the Marvel and Star Wars universes could come together now that they were both owned by Disney. In the speech, which Oswalt improvised, Garth describes Boba Fett climbing out of the Sarlacc pit. He also talks about Thanos using the Infinity Gauntlet and explains how it could be used to make the two universes crossover. Of course, the Infinity Gauntlet ended up being a major part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe when Thanos used it to dust half the universe in Avengers: Infinity War in 2018. In 2021, The Book of Boba Fett was released and featured the iconic bounty hunter escaping the Sarlacc. During a recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Oswalt talked about how some of his predictions came true.

"So the scene was supposed to be [that] I announce I'm gonna do this filibuster and then they cut to Amy's character, Leslie, just going 'Oh dear God,' and that would be the joke," Oswalt recalled. "And then the directors and the writers said, 'Let's not yell cut and just see how long he'll talk.'"

"[Marvel] had not done Guardians of the Galaxy," he explained. "When I say 'Time Gem' [one of the Infinity Stones], they cut to Chris Pratt. This was way before he did Guardians ... Also, Amy has the funniest line in the whole thing when she says the female part's a little underwritten, which was so exactly what those movies were."

"When The Book of Boba Fett came on, [creator] Jon Favreau confirmed this for me, they cut the opening shot to match my filibuster," Oswalt revealed. "You can sync them up time-wise... [it] pans down from the twin suns, the hand comes out of the sand, you can match it up to my filibuster. They did that on purpose."

Did Chris Pratt Confirm His MCU Return?

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ended with a title card teasing that Pratt's Peter Quill/Star-Lord will return. Ever since, fans have wondered about the actor's next appearance in the MCU. Additionally, now that Guardians director James Gunn is co-leading DC Studios, some fans have wondered if Pratt will follow Gunn to this new franchise. While speaking to ComicBook about his work on The Garfield Movie, Pratt teased that either option is possible.

"Well, it probably make more sense that I would be Star-Lord again," Pratt said. "But anything is possible, and especially with James over at DC. Maybe there's something that would be right over there. Maybe both. How about both? Let's do both. I think it's 100% both."

Stay tuned for more updates about the MCU.

There are a lot of exciting Star Wars projects in the works from Lucasfilm, and the next on the docket is Star Wars: The Acolyte. The new Disney+ series is set to take place roughly a full century before the events of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, and features a star-studded lineup of actors. Today, a new featurette showcased some of the folks behind the scenes, including star Carrie-Anne Moss, series creator Leslye Headland, Lucasfilm's Chief Creative Officer Dave Filoni, producer Rayne Roberts, star Manny Jacinto, star Amandla Stenberg, star Dafne Keen, and star Lee Jung-jae.

"Go behind the scenes of the new Star Wars Original series, #TheAcolyte. Don't miss the two-episode premiere, streaming June 4 on Disney+," the official account for Star Wars captioned the post on YouTube. You can check out the "Creating the Acolyte" featurette below:

Leslye Headland Teases The Acolyte:

The Acolyte creator Leslye Headland has spoken about the series and teased what Star Wars fans can expect.

"We're taking a look at the political and personal and spiritual things that came up in a time period that we don't know much about," Headland explained in a previous interview. "My question when watching The Phantom Menace was always like, 'Well, how did things get to this point?' How did we get to a point where a Sith lord can infiltrate the Senate and none of the Jedi pick up on it? Like, what went wrong? What are the scenarios that led us to this moment?'"

"We actually use the term the Renaissance, or the Age of Enlightenment," Headland added. "The Jedi uniforms are gold and white, and it's almost like they would never get dirty. They would never be out and about," Headland says. "The idea is that they could have these types of uniforms because that's how little they're getting into skirmishes."

"The truth is that I, as a major mega fan, came to them with this idea. And I said, 'I think the best place to put this is in an era you guys have not quite explored yet,'" Headland revealed to Vanity Fair. "They were very enthusiastic. It wasn't that they didn't want to explore that [existing] world, but I think that they already were because The Mandalorian and a lot of the other television projects were really relying on legacy characters."

The Acolyte stars Amandla Stenberg (Bodies Bodies Bodies), Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix), Lee Jung-jae (Squid Game), Manny Jacinto (The Good Place), Jodie Turner-Smith (Murder Mystery 2), Dafne Keen (Logan), Charlie Barnett (Russian Doll), and more.

Star Wars: The Acolyte debuts on June 4, exclusively on Disney+.

Star Wars: The Acolyte's latest clip teases some of that high-flying lightsaber action that some of the actors have been teasing. June 4th will take viewers back to the days of The High Republic. Yes, the Jedi were active long before the Prequel Trilogy and this story will chronicle the days before their fall from power began. In Star Wars: The Acolyte, viewers follow a group of Jedi that are tracking a force being killing their fellow peacemakers. Amandla Stenberg is thought to be the main culprit. But, this latest clip throws some doubt on that assumption. Something much more sinister is at play and it is very likely that our stalwart group of heroes are hopelessly in above their heads.

In a talk with EW, Dafne Keen mentioned wanting to outdo Star Wars: The Phantom Menace's lightsaber sequences. That's an interesting point, because as much as people discuss those films, no one can argue that the lightsaber duels weren't an amazing sight upon that first viewing.

Before the Empire, before the Menace, there was the Acolyte.

Don't miss the two-episode premiere of #TheAcolyte, a Star Wars Original series, only on @DisneyPlus June 4. pic.twitter.com/Vr8zof1vmg

-- Star Wars (@starwars) May 22, 2024

"Yeah, that was a very frequent conversation we had," Keen said of the previous action in The Phantom Menace. "It was very much: We want to top the Darth Maul fight -- the most iconic fight, I think, in the Star Wars cinematic universe. It's such an amazing fight and we were all so excited about the saber fights. There's such a skill and a craft to it that it feels so OG Star Wars and feels so impressive when you see it as a viewer."

What Role Do The Sith Play?

Previous clips from the upcoming Disney+ series have focused on the incoming threat to the Jedi. It seems as though the Sith are not as extinct as these peacekeepers have been led to believe. Show creator Leslie Headland told Entertainment Weekly that her goal for the Star Wars show was to focus in on what makes a villain. In honesty, we've had so many entries in this franchise that have focused on the plight of our heroes. But, what exactly is going on with the bad guys back in the days of The High Republic. It's a thorny question and one that should really excite fans in a major way.

"I really wanted to tell a story about the Sith," Headland explained to EW when they asked about the plot. "That was kind of my dream Star Wars idea. But it felt like the time period to do that in would be something pre-Phantom Menace. That seemed to be the most interesting trajectory for the Sith: How did the Sith go from the Rule of Two and being quote-unquote 'extinct' to Palpatine coming into power without the Jedi knowing about it?"

What Is The Acolyte About?

Disney+ hypes the upcoming series: "Set during The High Republic, Star Wars: The Acolyte delivers an investigation into a mysterious string of crimes, which pits a Jedi master against his former apprentice in a race to uncover the truth. The more that the pair learn about the situation, the darker their journey becomes, as they confront things that darker than either of them could have imagined."

The series stars Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Jodie Turner-Smith, Rebecca Henderson, Dean-Charles Chapman, Joonas Suotamo, and Carrie-Anne Moss. Star Wars: The Acolyte premieres on Disney+ on June 4th.

Are you hyped for more of Star Wars: The Acolyte? Catch all of our pop culture discussion at @ComicBook on social media!

With many of the Star Wars TV shows on Disney+, when initial clips of the program are released online, they lean into expositional elements of the story, but in the case of Star Wars: The Acolyte, the first clip showcases a fight between Amandla Stenberg's Mae and Lee Jung-jae's Sol. With only two weeks to go until the series officially premieres, fans still have a lot to learn about the two figures, though this first clip highlights their approaches to combat, with Mae being more aggressive as Sol is calm and collected. You can check out the new clip from Star Wars: The Acolyte below before it premieres on Disney+ on June 4th.

Even though the new series is set during The High Republic, which is an era set more than a century before the events of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, the experience won't be an entirely regal affair, as star Dafne Keen previously expressed how the production used the fight scenes from that prequel as the bar to reach with the show's combat. In that sense, this clip merely scratches the surface of the intensity that The Acolyte will deliver us.

"Yeah, that was a very frequent conversation we had," Keen shared with Entertainment Weekly last month about the showdown in The Phantom Menace. "It was very much: We want to top the Darth Maul fight -- the most iconic fight, I think, in the Star Wars cinematic universe. It's such an amazing fight and we were all so excited about the saber fights. There's such a skill and a craft to it that it feels so OG Star Wars and feels so impressive when you see it as a viewer."

Set during The High Republic, Star Wars: The Acolyte delivers an investigation into a mysterious string of crimes, which pits a Jedi master against his former apprentice in a race to uncover the truth. The more that the pair learn about the situation, the darker their journey becomes, as they confront things that darker than either of them could have imagined.

The series stars Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Jodie Turner-Smith, Rebecca Henderson, Dean-Charles Chapman, Joonas Suotamo, and Carrie-Anne Moss. Star Wars: The Acolyte premieres on Disney+ on June 4th.

Are you looking forward to the new series? Contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

Star Wars: The Acolyte's showrunner revealed that The Clone Wars ended up inspiring a lot of the upcoming Disney+ series. Leslie Headland talked to IGN about how "The Wrong Jedi" gave her a ton of room to work with when starting The Acolyte. Making these massive shows for Disney's streaming service can be a strange task. Star Wars is so expansive that you can literally go in any direction from the word go. For Headland, the idea of the moral grey areas and the presence of Nightsisters marked an instant bookmark in the franchise's lore. Add that to the preocupation with the bad guys in the Science Fiction series and the showrunner's choice makes a whole lot of sense. Check out what else the Russian Doll creator had to say down below.

Headland told the outlet, "But also, The Clone Wars [inspired The Acolyte], a lot being inspired by Nightsisters. We don't have any Nightsisters in this show, but being inspired by them, being inspired by Asajj Ventress. My favorite episode is 'The Wrong Jedi.' I definitely took some inspiration from that." That's a lot to chew on. Ahsoka Tano finds herself in the middle of a massive crisis during that Clone Wars outing. It's up to the young Jedi to clear her name when she's accused of an unspeakable crime. The viewer knows she didn't do it, and there's some catharsis to the reveal. However, the incident forever changes Ashoka's attachment to the Jedi Order with lasting consequences for the series as a whole.

Star Wars: The Acolyte Pulls From All Corners Of The Franchise

This all backs up previous comment from the showrunner. In an interview with Total Film, Headland explained that Star Wars: The Acolyte will honor many different eras of the franchise. She argued, "It's a show packed with everything I wanted to explore: I wanted EU [Expanded Universe] stuff in there, references to the original trilogy, The Phantom Menace, the Disney sequels... it's absolutely packed. Because you never know, you may not get the chance again."

"[Cinematographer] Chris [Teague] and I talked a lot about honoring George Lucas' camera moves," Headland continued. "I would say the original trilogy became our touchpoint for how to craft the world, while the Episode I-ness of the show is a bit more thematic."

Do you love that episode too? How excited are you for The Acolyte? Catch all of our pop culture discussion at @ComicBook on social media!

Star Wars: The Acolyte has a lot of fans as curious as they are excited. The new Star Wars Disney+ series we'll take us into very murky period in the franchise timeline: the waning days of The High Republic Era, which preceded the period of the Skywalker Saga's start. Waiting for us within that unexplored period is a story wrapped in mystery and murder.

As Star Wars: The Acolyte begins streaming on Disney+, we've prepared a quick and easy guide for mainstream Star Wars fans and viewers, to help them get all the finer details they need to know, to really get into the show.

The Setting: What Is Star Wars' High Republic?

Star Wars launched a multimedia line of content (novels, audiobooks, comic books) under the "The High Republic" banner starting in January of 2021. The earliest stories of The High Republic (Phase II) are set about 350 years before the events of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, at a time when different groups of Force users split into opposing factions (like the Jedi and Path of the Open Hand). However, the main focus of the franchise is a story arc set 200 years before the Skywalker Saga. It's a time following the Jedi-Sith War, when the Sith Empire has been eradicated, and the Jedi Order and Republic have united to usher in an era of peace and prosperity.

The overarching story of The High Republic (Phases I & III) is about how The Republic and Jedi Order expanded into the Outer Rim territory, after having to negotiate some difficult socio-political-spiritual minefields in the region. The Republic launches "Starlight Beacon" in the Outer Rim, only to have their presence stir dark, deadly threats long dormant in the galaxy. One of those threats is the Nihil, a gang of galactic raiders who have secret technology at their disposal (like the "Path" hyperdrive), as well as ancient species of Force-consuming monsters that are set loose, like the plant monsters the Drengir, or the Force-eating monsters known as the "The Nameless" (or "Shrii Ka Rai").

In the current "Phase III" arc of Star Wars: The High Republic (still ongoing at the time of writing this), The Jedi are down bad: The Nihil blow up Starlight Beacon, and between their raids on Republic settlements and use of the Nameless, even some of the most powerful and prominent Jedi of the time are killed in battle. The Nihil go a step further, as their master, Marchion Ro, uses his unique tech to block off a section of the Outer Rim Territories behind a Nihil energy barrier, claiming it as "Nihil space." The Jedi are still working on infiltrating that "Occlusion Zone," hoping to free these civilians, Jedi, and allies trapped inside, while stopping the Nihil once and for all.

Star Wars: The Acolyte Story Explained

Star Wars: The Acolyte is set approximately 100 years before The Skywalker Saga - meaning it takes place about 100 years after Phases II & III of The High Republic. The show is "a mystery-thriller that will take viewers into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark-side powers in the final days of the High Republic era. A former Padawan reunites with her Jedi Master to investigate a series of crimes, but the forces they confront are more sinister than they ever anticipated."

As stated, The Acolyte is set within a largely undefined space in the Star Wars timeline - which is also a pivotal span of Star Wars chronology for showrunner Leslye Headland to be working in.

Star Wars: The Acolyte's Franchise Connections Explained

Star Wars: The Acolyte will have to walk a tightrope between setting the stage for the clandestine return of the Sith (who finally have their "Revenge" during the Skywalker Saga), while also having to apply brushstrokes of implication about the outcome of the Jedi-Nihil War a century before.

There are also early rumors that material in The High Republic Phase II's flashback story arc (about the different factions of Force users and their ideological conflicts) could be inspiring The Acolyte's mysterious "coven of Force witches" led by Mother Aniseya (Jodie Turner-Smith). Those same witches could, in turn, inspire later groups like The Nightsisters (who are featured in Star Wars: Ahsoka).

Finally, there are many Star Wars fans looking at The Acolyte as having a possible surprise twist of revealing the infamous Sith Lord Darth Plagueis "The Wise" as the Sith Lord threat in the show. Plagueis was the Sith Lord who trained Palpatine to become Darth Sidious. Plagueis and Palpatine did extensive research on how use to Force to manipulate Midi-chlorians to cheat death, striving to achieve immortality. Plagueis was ultimately poisoned by Palpatine, ending his story; however, Darth Plagueis rise to power as a Sith Lord, and recruitment of an apprentice (or apprentices) - when the Jedi Order was so strong - is definitely a story worth telling onscreen.

The Characters of Star Wars: The Acolyte Explained

One of The Acolyte's standout characters, Jedi Knight Vernestra Rwoh (Rebecca Henderson), first appeared in The High Republic books. Vernestra is a young prodigy during the Phase I and Phase III storyline, but will appear in The Acolyte TV series as an older, wiser, Jedi, still wielding her purple whip-like lightsaber. As a Mirialan, Vernestra does have a long lifespan.

Squid Game star Lee Jung-Jae will play "Sol" a respected Jedi Master and teacher who takes on the investigation of who is murdering the Jedi. Logan star Dafne Keen plays "Jecki Lon," Sol's Padawan who joins him on the mission.

Amandla Stenberg plays "Mae," a former Jedi Padawan who has become a warrior of uncertain allegiances.

Jodie Turner-Smith plays "Mother Aniseya," leader of a coven of Force witches - allegiances also unknown.

Additional roles include The Good Place's Manny Jacinto as "Qimir," a former smuggler; YouTuber Abigail Thorn as "Ensign Eurus"; Charlie Barnett (YOU, Chicago Fire) as "Yord Fandar," a bookish and by-the-numbers Jedi Knight; and veteran Star Wars actor Joonas Suotamo taking on a new Wookie role as "Kelnacca," a Jedi living in solitude. Margarita Levieva (The Deuce), Amy Tsang (Velvet Buzzsaw), and David Harewood (Supergirl) in undisclosed roles.

MORE: Full List of The Acolyte Characters Explained

Premiere Date & How To Watch The Acolyte

Star Wars: The Acolyte has a release date of June 4, 2024. The Acolyte will premier with a two-episode release on June 4th, before releasing an additional six episodes weekly.

The Acolyte can only be streamed on Disney+ if you have a full subscription to the service.

How Many Seasons of The Acolyte Will There Be?

While only one season is confirmed, there are already hints that Star Wars: The Acolyte Season 2 is already in the plans:

"I would say that when I pitched it, I definitely pitched it as a multi-season show. There are a lot of things at the end of this season that I think are narrative threads that are not tied up, for sure," Acolyte showrunner Leslye Headland confirmed with Collider. "However, I am the type of writer that is not interested in an emotional cliffhanger. I want you to feel like you've had a particular type of catharsis, and an emotional experience in watching those eight episodes because I like rewarding the audience with that."

More recently, producer Rayne Roberts also hinted a multiple seasons of The Acolyte:

"We want to make sure this season has an ending -- some catharsis -- but you always want to leave the door open. We've talked about where the story could go, and [showrunner] Leslye [Headland] has so many ideas -- and like anything, if something's successful, you can bet you'll find other stories within it."

Star Wars: The Acolyte begins streaming on Disney+ on June 4th.

Always two, there are: master and apprentice. In The Acolyte -- the newest live-action Star Wars spinoff set in the final days of the High Republic era -- Jedi Master Sol (Squid Game's Lee Jung-jae) is dispatched to capture the suspect of a shocking crime spree: his old padawan, Mae (Bodies Bodies Bodies' Amandla Stenberg).

"Let me be the one to bring her in," Sol says to the Mirialan Jedi Master Vernestra Rwoh (Westworld's Rebecca Henderson) in a new featurette, below. When Sol comes face-to-face with a black-clad figure wielding a red lightsaber, it becomes clear to Sol that this is an encounter with the Dark Side of the Force. "You carry a Jedi weapon," he says, illuminated by the blue beam of his lightsaber, "but you are no Jedi."

"I was writing the character of Sol when Squid Game came out," series creator and writer Leslye Headland says of the South Korean Netflix series that won Lee an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. "I said, 'That's Sol.' Lee Jung-jae just ran the gamut of every single emotion."

That made Lee a perfect fit for the wise and highly respected Jedi Master who is going through an emotional conflict: the return of a dangerous warrior from his past who happens to be his former student. Lee "has been a legendary actor for years," adds episodic director Kogonada (After Yang). "He has real ownership of his character."

Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix films), who plays skilled Jedi Master Indara, also heaped praise on her co-star. "He has so much heart that he brings to it, and so genuine," Moss says, with Headland noting that Lee "knows how to switch from being formidable and then switch to being heartbreaking. I don't know many actors that can do that."

The 51-year-old actor "shines so beautifully in this role," adds his on-screen apprentice Stenberg over behind-the-scenes footage of Lee's lightsaber training, "and looks fantastic when he's fighting. It's really like dancing. JJ's just a cool Jedi."

Also starring Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Jodie Turner-Smith, Dean-Charles Chapman, and Joonas Suotamo, Star Wars: The Acolyte is streaming in primetime when it premieres with its first two episodes June 4 on Disney+.

Star Wars: The Acolyte is set to be a distinct entry in the Star Wars universe, exploring the franchise's High Republic era in live-action television for the first time. As The Acolyte's June 4th release date gets closer, Disney+ has provided a new detail of when and how we can watch the series. According to the streaming service's recent listing about its June 2024 programming, all episodes of The Acolyte will premiere on Tuesdays at 6pm PT.

Disney+ has been utilizing these primetime releases with their original programming for the better part of a year, with Star Wars: Ahsoka, Loki, Percy Jackson & the Olympians, and Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (Taylor's Version) all getting the same treatment.

What Is Star Wars: The Acolyte About?

In Star Wars: The Acolyte, an investigation into a shocking crime spree pits a respected Jedi Master (Lee Jung-jae) against a dangerous warrior from his past (Amandla Stenberg). As more clues emerge, they travel down a dark path where sinister forces reveal all is not what it seems.

Star Wars: The Acolyte stars Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Jodie Turner- Smith, Rebecca Henderson, Dean-Charles Chapman, Joonas Suotamo, and Carrie-Anne Moss. Leslye Headland created the series, based on Star Wars by George Lucas, and serves as an executive producer along with Kathleen Kennedy, Simon Emanuel, Jeff F. King and Jason Micallef. Charmaine DeGrate? and Kor Adana are the co-executive producers. Rayne Roberts, Damian Anderson, Eileen Shim and Rob Bredow are the producers.

When Is Star Wars: The Acolyte Set?

Star Wars: The Acolyte is set at the very tail end of the High Republic era, decades prior to the events of the Prequel and Original trilogies. The Acolyte marks the first time that the time period has been portrayed in live-action, after it has already been brought to life in novels, comics, and in the animated series Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures.

"We're taking a look at the political and personal and spiritual things that came up in a time period that we don't know much about," Headland explained in a previous interview. "My question when watching The Phantom Menace was always like, 'Well, how did things get to this point?' How did we get to a point where a Sith lord can infiltrate the Senate and none of the Jedi pick up on it? Like, what went wrong? What are the scenarios that led us to this moment?'"

"We actually use the term the Renaissance, or the Age of Enlightenment," Headland added. "The Jedi uniforms are gold and white, and it's almost like they would never get dirty. They would never be out and about," Headland says. "The idea is that they could have these types of uniforms because that's how little they're getting into skirmishes."

The first two episodes of Star Wars: The Acolyte will debut exclusively on Disney+ on June 4th at 6pm PST. If you haven't checked out Disney+ yet and you want to give it a go, you can do that here.

Note: This is not a sponsored post, but if you purchase one of the awesome products featured above, we may earn a small commission from the retailer. Thank you for your support.

It's been a big month for Star Wars fans, as not only did we get the annual May the 4th celebration, but this May specifically marks the 25th anniversary of the release of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. Lucasfilm and Disney have been honoring the debut of the first prequel in countless ways, and in honor of this week seeing the anniversary of the movie's official theatrical debut, a remastered version of the 35mm trailer for The Phantom Menace has been shared on YouTube. Given that Hollywood, and specifically Lucasfilm, have pushed the boundaries for embracing digital filmmaking techniques, getting to revisit the grit and grain of a vintage 35mm trailer is sure to evoke nostalgic memories in fans. You can watch the 4K remaster of the 35mm trailer for Star Wars: The Phantom Menace below.

The first teaser trailer for Phantom Menace was released on November 17, 1998 alongside the opening of Brad Pitt's Meet Joe Black. While fans can currently stream trailers across the Internet the minute they are released, things weren't quite that simple back in the late '90s, with the excitement for the prequel seeing countless fans buying tickets to Meet Joe Black just to see the trailer and leaving before the movie itself started. Some theaters would even show the teaser after the film in hopes of keeping audiences in their seats.

Lucasfilm's LeAndre Thomas pointed out on Twitter that this specific version of the teaser was from so early in the movie's promotional campaign that, rather than including the title of the movie, it was still merely referred to as "Episode I." Interestingly, The Phantom Menace was the only prequel movie shot on 35mm, adding additional significance to this remaster.

Regardless of how much fans of the franchise actually enjoy the movie, the power of its release is undeniable, as it marked a return to the beloved galaxy far, far away 16 years after Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. While the prequel might have earned mixed reviews from fans and audiences alike at the time, its reception has shifted into a more positive light in recent years, especially as the young audiences who were the intended demographic of the film have gotten older and been able to more fully relay their nuanced opinions about the experience.

Whether viewers loved or hated the prequel, The Phantom Menace still has a significant pop-culture footprint, with this month's anniversary of the film and fans revisiting the picture resulting in the prequel becoming the most-streamed Star Wars movie on Disney+.

Stay tuned for updates about the Star Wars franchise.

What do you think of the trailer? Contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

Star Wars: The Acolyte is set to be one of the most distinct projects of the franchise's Disney+ era, with a star-studded cast and a new setting of the High Republic era. With The Acolyte's series premiere just a matter of weeks away, one of the show's ensemble cast members is flexing their talents in a whole new way.

In a recent social media post, Star Wars shared an official video of The Acolyte star Amadla Stenberg playing a solo arrangement of the iconic Star Wars score from John Williams.

"It's a once in a lifetime experience, and it's something I'll hold forever."#TheAcolyte star, Amandla Stenberg plays a solo violin arrangement of John Williams' iconic Star Wars score. See the two-episode premiere of The Acolyte, arriving June 4 on @DisneyPlus. pic.twitter.com/JLWPcOo0yl

-- Star Wars (@starwars) May 20, 2024

What Is Star Wars: The Acolyte About?

In Star Wars: The Acolyte, an investigation into a shocking crime spree pits a respected Jedi Master (Lee Jung-jae) against a dangerous warrior from his past (Stenberg). As more clues emerge, they travel down a dark path where sinister forces reveal all is not what it seems.

Star Wars: The Acolyte stars Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Jodie Turner- Smith, Rebecca Henderson, Dean-Charles Chapman, Joonas Suotamo, and Carrie-Anne Moss. Leslye Headland created the series, based on Star Wars by George Lucas, and serves as an executive producer along with Kathleen Kennedy, Simon Emanuel, Jeff F. King and Jason Micallef. Charmaine DeGrate? and Kor Adana are the co-executive producers. Rayne Roberts, Damian Anderson, Eileen Shim and Rob Bredow are the producers.

When Is Star Wars: The Acolyte Set?

Star Wars: The Acolyte is set at the very tail end of the High Republic era, decades prior to the events of the Prequel and Original trilogies. The Acolyte marks the first time that the time period has been portrayed in live-action, after it has already been brought to life in novels, comics, and in the animated series Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures.

"We're taking a look at the political and personal and spiritual things that came up in a time period that we don't know much about," Headland explained in a previous interview. "My question when watching The Phantom Menace was always like, 'Well, how did things get to this point?' How did we get to a point where a Sith lord can infiltrate the Senate and none of the Jedi pick up on it? Like, what went wrong? What are the scenarios that led us to this moment?'"

"We actually use the term the Renaissance, or the Age of Enlightenment," Headland added. "The Jedi uniforms are gold and white, and it's almost like they would never get dirty. They would never be out and about," Headland says. "The idea is that they could have these types of uniforms because that's how little they're getting into skirmishes."

The first two episodes of Star Wars: The Acolyte will debut exclusively on Disney+ on June 4th. If you haven't checked out Disney+ yet and you want to give it a go, you can do that here.

Note: This is not a sponsored post, but if you purchase one of the awesome products featured above, we may earn a small commission from the retailer. Thank you for your support.

Lucasfilm has been busy celebrating the 25th anniversary of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. In addition to releasing some fun prequels merchandise, the studio also rereleased the movie in theaters earlier this month. May 19th is the movie's official anniversary, and the latest tribute comes from Jar Jar Binks himself, Ahmed Best. The actor, who also played Kelleran Beq in Jedi Temple Challenge and Star Wars: The Mandalorian, was featured in a new video that shows him sharing his favorite memory from the film's set. He also shared love for the Jar Jar fans, acknowledging that those who were young when the movie came out were always supportive of the character.

"I cannot believe it's been 25 years since The Phantom Menace," Best began. "Thank you to all the Jar Jar fans. 25 years ago, you were the young people that always showed me love ... My favorite memory from The Phantom Meance is in the submarine," he added. You can watch him talk about the experience of filming the scene with Ewan McGregor and Liam Neeson in the video below:

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Ahmed Best Wants To Make a "Jedi John Wick:"

ComicBook recently got to chat with Best in honor of May 4th, and we asked where he'd like to see Kelleran Beq pop up next.

"I keep putting this out there. I want to do a Jedi John Wick as Kelleran Beq," Best shared. And I don't even need to say any words. I just want to do two hours of lightsabers and people in the way. I really want to do something like that because the fight that I did for Mandalorian is 1/10th of 1% of what I could do. And there's so much more."

"I was just talking about this, the style that influences Kelleran Beq is from Filipino martial arts, and nobody really knows very much how deep those arts are," he continued. "Most of the Jedi are Japanese Samurai influenced, but the Filipinos beat the Samurai and they beat the Spanish. The way they move, the style that they move, and the weapons that they use are revolutionary. It's so much so that a lot of what Bruce Lee does in Jeet Kune Do is influenced by Filipino martial arts. So I really want that to be highlighted through some kind of Jedi story."

Stay tuned for more updates about Star Wars.

The next Star Wars project is right around the corner! Star Wars: The Acolyte is debuting on Disney+ next month, and it will take place roughly a full century before the events of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. Fans have gotten glimpses of the show in various trailers, posters, and clips, and the newest trailer is giving a little more away: including the live-action debut of the lightsaber whip.

"'Now she's a student of the dark side,'" Lucasfilm quoted on YouTube. "The two-episode premiere of #TheAcolyte, a Star Wars Original series, arrives June 4 on Disney+." You can check out the trailer below:

The Lightwhip's History:

The lightsaber whip or lightwhip is a modified lightsaber with one or more plasma blades in flexible containment shields. Used by the Jedi Order during the Sith Wars, lightwhips have also been associated with the Nightsisters of Dathomir. The character best known for using this weapon is High Republic Era Jedi Knight Vernestra Rwoh, who is being played by Rebecca Henderson in The Acolyte. The character's first official appearance was in The High Republic: Light of the Jedi, which was published in 2021.

The lightwhips were first canonically mentioned in the Fantasy Flight Games sourcebook Endless Vigil in 2016 before appearing in The High Republic: A Test of Courage in 2021. However, the lightwhip originated in the Star Wars Legends continuity, and first appeared in the comic book Star Wars (1977) #95 in 1985.

Leslye Headland Teases The Acolyte:

The Acolyte creator Leslye Headland has spoken about the series and teased what Star Wars fans can expect.

"We're taking a look at the political and personal and spiritual things that came up in a time period that we don't know much about," Headland explained in a previous interview. "My question when watching The Phantom Menace was always like, 'Well, how did things get to this point?' How did we get to a point where a Sith lord can infiltrate the Senate and none of the Jedi pick up on it? Like, what went wrong? What are the scenarios that led us to this moment?'"

"We actually use the term the Renaissance, or the Age of Enlightenment," Headland added. "The Jedi uniforms are gold and white, and it's almost like they would never get dirty. They would never be out and about," Headland says. "The idea is that they could have these types of uniforms because that's how little they're getting into skirmishes."

"The truth is that I, as a major mega fan, came to them with this idea. And I said, 'I think the best place to put this is in an era you guys have not quite explored yet,'" Headland revealed to Vanity Fair. "They were very enthusiastic. It wasn't that they didn't want to explore that [existing] world, but I think that they already were because The Mandalorian and a lot of the other television projects were really relying on legacy characters."

The Acolyte stars Amandla Stenberg (Bodies Bodies Bodies), Lee Jung-jae (Squid Game), Manny Jacinto (The Good Place), Jodie Turner-Smith (Murder Mystery 2), Dafne Keen (Logan), Charlie Barnett (Russian Doll), and more.

Star Wars: The Acolyte ignites on June 4, exclusively on Disney+.

Several PlayStation 2 games are already playable on the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 consoles via an active PlayStation Plus Premium subscription, but as any PlayStation Plus subscriber will tell you, the classic games that the subscription service has gotten ever since the new tiers were announced have left something to be desired. The PS2 library of games in particular has been sparce when it comes to PlayStation Plus Premium options, but if a new leak means what PlayStation fans think it does, that drought may finally be coming to an end soon.

That's because a classic Star Wars game from the PS2 era just popped up on the PlayStation Store recently with a promising listing that indicated it was planned for the PS4 and PS5 consoles. For context, PS2 games playable on modern consoles have so far been restricted to PS4 versions of the games that also happened to be playable on the PS5, so the newly discovered listing for Star Wars: The Clone Wars is even more exciting given that the listing has it down for both the PS4 and PS5.

PlayStation Store tracker PS Deals (via Gematsu) initially shared news of the PS4 and PS5 listings for Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The game was originally published by LucasArts with Pandemic Studios as the developer, though the new PlayStation Store listing for the game has Disney Interactive Studios as the publisher.

This listing definitely wasn't supposed to be up and reveal as much as it did, however, given that the PlayStation Store listing for Star Wars: The Clone Wars has already been taken down. Screenshots from the listing showed the blocky PS2 game looking very much as it did back when it released on that console many years ago, but the listing promised new features like quick saves, a rewind function, and more. Below are more details captured from the PlayStation Store listing before the PS2 game disappeared:

Star Wars: The Clone Wars for PS4 and PS5

• Take over where Episode II ends. Play out the greatest battles of the epic Clone Wars.
• Sixteen single-player missions on six expansive worlds from the Star Wars universe.
• Pilot five unique craft (Republic gunship, speeder bike, fighter tank, assault walker and even a maru) against over 30 different combat units.
• Missions range from intense close combat engagements to enormous large-scale battles.
• Four entirely different multiplayer modes: team-based strategy, deathmatch, king-of-the-hill, and cooperative endurance.

Given that the listing for the PS2 game is gone, there's no telling when it'll be back, but the listing indicated that the game would be out for the PS4 and PS5 consoles on June 11th, so expect a formal announcement sooner rather than later.