The Acolyte trailer out; Star Wars series hints at a war between light and dark

Amandla Stenberg and Lee Jung-jae starrer The Acolyte trailer debuted at Star Wars Celebration convention in London on Friday (Apr 7). The series will take place at the end of the High Republic era, about 100 years before The Phantom Menace. This time period is sometimes referred to as the "Golden Era of the Jedi," marking the pinnacle of the ancient order.

There were some enticing hints about the series in the trailer. According to Variety, the trailer begins with Lee Jung-character, Jae's the former teacher of the Jedi Knight, instructing younglings in the Jedi Temple. The video cuts to a fight between Amandla Stenberg's character and Carrie Anne Moss's character. You can hear Lee's voice saying, "Close your eyes. Your eyes can deceive you.” This implies that the enemy the Jedi may be up against may be able to alter perception in some way.

Leslye Headland on The Acolyte

Leslye Headland, director of the show, described her idea for the series as Frozen meets Kill Bill from the viewpoint of the villains, with samurai movies serving as a general source of influence. Because "this is when the bad guys are outnumbered."  Apart from Stenberg and Lee Jung-jae, The Acolyte also features Jodie Turner-Smith, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Rebecca Henderson, Carrie-Anne Moss, Dean-Charles Chapman, Charlie Barnett and Margarita Levieva in major roles. 

The plot of The Acolyte revolves around a Jedi Knight and her former master who look into a string of inexplicable crimes occurring throughout the galaxy. They run into a number of people along the route, including a Neimoidian who could know how the Sith Order came to control the Trade Federation and a person dressed in a black suit who appears to be a Sith assassin. The show will release digitally sometime in 2024.