When The Acolyte hits Disney+ in June, it’ll be the first time many Star Wars fans discover the High Republic, an era of the franchise set hundreds of years before the movies. Others though have been reading about it for years and they’ll surely be anxious to see if any of their favorite characters pop up.
Turns out the answer is... only one will. In an interview with Collider, Acolyte showrunner Leslye Headland confirmed that only one previously known High Republic book character will appear on the show, and that’s Jedi Master Vernestra Rwoh, played by Rebecca Henderson. She goes by “Vern” and, in the books, fans met her as a 15-year-old coming up through the Jedi Order. Here though, she’s older, wiser, and a key part of the show.
“I’m gonna be straight with you. [Other book characters] do not [appear],” Headland said. “Part of that is because I wanted to save some people for season two. I really focused on Vern. Vern was a character that really jumped out at me immediately as someone that I wanted to see as an arc for where we were with the Jedi when we come into this story.”
Why is that? She continued. “[Vern is] a character that started out as a prodigy, someone powerfully connected to the Force, almost in love with the Force, but also sassy enough to make her lightsaber into a whip,” Headland said. “Someone [with] that experimentation, that energy, and then to see who she is in our show, and see what happens over the course of becoming a more and more powerful Jedi, and going from mission after mission, to council meetings, and protocol, and ‘How do we keep this institution going, how do we check it, how do we negotiate the level of power that we have.’ She’s massively respected, and considered to be one of the most powerful Jedi at this particular time period.”
If you notice, Headland did sneak in there the idea that other popular High Republic characters could pop in in season two, assuming there is a season two. She also told Collider that while this first season of The Acolyte will wrap up nicely and not leave people salivating over a cliffhanger, there are more ideas for the future.
“I would say that when I pitched it, I definitely pitched it as a multi-season show,” Headland said. “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. 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.”
But first: season one, which debuts June 4 with its first two episodes. We’ll have much more on that as we get closer.
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