Ivan Radford | On 09, Jun 2024

Crouching Jedi, Hidden Dragon? That’s the the introductory tone for The Acolyte, the latest Star Wars series to hit our screens. The expansion of George Lucas’ universe on Disney+ has been a mixed blessing, with the company’s race to monetise its already heavily monetised franchise leading to an unfortunate glut of middling projects. But The Book of Boba Fett, The Acolyte is not. Hewing closer to the more standalone Andor, it’s a dark chapter in Star Wars history that’s fuelled not by a rebellious push for freedom but by a personal quest for revenge.

That decision alone is a superb one, and showrunner Leslye Headland makes her intent clear from the off with a showdown that comes right out of the Wuxia playbook. Mae (Amandla Stenberg) walks into a bar and picks a fight with Jedi Master Indara (Carrie-Anne Moss), and what ensues is a fist fight full of kung fu as much as the Force, with blades of all sizes flying around alongside limbs, each move a push or a pull towards closer combat. It’s one of the most exciting, surprising and original set pieces in Star Wars history: a breath of fresh air that comes tinged with blood and anger.

Even the Jedi we meet in this series aren’t clean-cut heroes against Sithy villains: we find the order at the peak of its powers, swaggering about with arrogant authority that echoes the Empire’s own hubris in later years. Indeed, events here are 100 years before the prequels era of Star Wars, which is the show’s second smart move: to take us fully away from the Skywalker saga.

The result gives its characters a welcome amount of breathing room – and gives Amandla Stenberg at least twice as much opportunity to connect with the audience than The Mandalorian’s masked bounty hunter. She’s at once determined, calculating, powerful and sympathetic, every bit the ruthless assassin we both do and don’t want her to be. As we get to know Mae, and why she’s looking to bump off Jedi, we also meet Osha, a former Padawan turned mechanic who winds up roped into the aftermath of a growing body count. And we’re introduced to Jedi veteran Sol (Squid Game’s Lee Jung-jae, in fantastically haughty mode), young Jedi Yord (Russian Doll’s Charlie Barnett, in amusingly by-the-book anxious mode) and Sol’s current student, Jecki (Dafne Keen, in smart and sprightly mode).

Needless to say, there are mysteries lingering in the air, some of which are quickly revealed, some of which remain unanswered, but the show does a great job of leaving us wondering exactly who to root for. At the heart of it all is a painful tragedy and the question of how to respond to it – and that ties The Acolyte into Star Wars traditions of identity and decisions, and how our actions help define and shape who we become. Headland manages to explore material with less clunky exposition than Ahsoka and a better grasp of pacing. Punctuating the atmospheric visuals – a little grittier and more practical than the glossy, CGI-filled prequels – with thrilling bouts of hand-to-hand combat, this is a slice of Star Wars that feels like it’s carving out its corner of the universe, one act of vengeance at a time. We have a good feeling about this.

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