“Your eyes can deceive you. We must not trust them.” These are some of the first words we hear (from Jedi Master Sol, played by Lee Jung-jae) in the first trailer for Star Wars: The Acolyte, the extremely anticipated new series from Russian Doll co-creator Leslye Headland. Definitely puts you in a state of mind for the rest of this first look, which is full of extremely cool-looking action snippets and a distinct sense of unease.
And it’s also full of brilliant actors, including Carrie-Anne Moss, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Jodie Turner-Smith, and star Amandla Stenberg, who plays Mae, “a dangerous warrior from [Master Sol’s] past.”
In an interview with StarWars.com, Headland said, “If Star Wars is about the underdog versus the institution, [in The Acolyte] the Jedi are the institution.” The series is set in the High Republic era—in which a whole lot of books have already been set—but Headland said, “You don’t need to know too much to enter the story.”
It’s exciting to get a Star Wars story that’s set this far out of the well-known timeline; it’s all the more exciting that the trailer looks this good—and this morally fraught. As Aniseya (the leader of a coven of witches! There should always be more witches in Star Wars!) says at the end, “This isn’t about good or bad. It’s about power, and who is allowed to use it.”
The Acolyte premieres June 4th on Disney+.
