This Week, In a Galaxy Far, Far Away (Lightspeed Edition): ‘The Acolyte’ Is Two Days Away From Release
Welcome back to a cut-down edition of “This Week, In a Galaxy Far, Far Away“. The Acolyte is just a couple of days away from coming out on Disney Plus, and that’s partly the reason why we’re running a bit short this week. I’ve now seen the first four episodes, and I’ll be posting a quick collection of my thoughts tomorrow on social media.
I now have to focus on writing the review, which is under embargo for now, and I don’t want to talk too much about the show tonight as I’m now slightly biased — and focusing on another main topic would not feel right two days away from the biggest show of the year for Star Wars. Here’s a quick advance for you for checking out the piece tonight, though: I like the show so far! It has some very strong character work, and also some that is much weaker, but there is enough in it for me to recommend.
If you’re looking for a pre-Acolyte conversation, feel free to check out last Thursday’s SWNN Live!, where in addition to celebrating Return of the Jedi as we wrap our Skywalker Saga discussions, Tyler, Jay, and a new addition, Luke, had a final call on Acolyte predictions. And if you want more YouTube content, here’s Tyler and myself breaking down everything we know so far about The Mandalorian & Grogu.
And if you want to keep preparing for The Acolyte, here‘s a breakdown of who Vernestra Rwoh is and why she matters.
Three Things That May Have Flown Casual
- Live-action updates: Hayden Christensen and Rosario Dawson discuss a potential reunion in Ahsoka season 2. The Dave Filoni show is currently deep in an FYC campaign to try to get some Emmy nominations. Adria Arjona also discusses season 2 — but for Andor. In particular, she talks about playing Bix throughout the time jumps we know the new season will feature. And finally, if you enjoyed the sequel trilogy like myself, and you live in London, unlike me, you might wanna check out the new trilogy at the BFI Imax theater on July 6.
- New reviews: Jay breaks down The High Republic Adventures #6, as well as The High Republic Adventures: Saber for Hire #2, while Josh discusses Jango Fett #3 here.
- More on this: Tyler reviews Temptation of the Force by Tessa Gratton — and it’s a glowing one. And if you’re interested in publishing, here’s John Jackson Miller sitting down with our own Nate Manning.
The Acolyte Is Two Days Away
Here’s a quick rundown of everything that was released this past week.
We covered the Empire Magazine interviews with Lee Jung-jae and Dafne Keen we discussed briefly during last Sunday’s piece. A bit later than I anticipated, but sort of how I predicted, Lucasfilm revealed the first wave of character posters for the show, too. They also announced that there will be a theatrical release of the first two episodes on Monday night in North America.
The budget for the show was $180M, according to The New York Times, and it seems like Lucasfilm is really rallying behind this show. Dave Filoni has been showing up a lot during these past few weeks, and though that might be his job as Chief Creative Officer, the truth is that the vast majority of this show was developed before he took on that title. So seeing him chatty with Leslye Headland is a huge vote of confidence in the show.
The Acolyte will introduce our first live-action Wookiee Jedi, played by Joonas Suotamo. And he’s also getting his own comic! A one-shot by Cavan Scott that will be released later this year.
Check out below some of the new videos that have been released, including a clip where the mysterious masked villain speaks for the first time. But here’s the biggest takeaway from the week. Leslye Headland said in an interview that the show will introduce a brand-new form of lightsaber beyond Vernestra Rwoh’s lightwhip. I can confirm that the following is an accurate description: (yes, this is a joke)
It’s happening. https://t.co/p5AVwmto9e pic.twitter.com/UPBIqkVXV7
— SWNN (@StarWarsNewsNet) June 2, 2024
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Have a great week!
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as movies from Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.
