'Star Wars: The Acolyte' Will Only Feature One Character From High Republic Novels

Star Wars

Mar 21

The High Republic era will be explored for the first time on screen this June with The Acolyte. This Star Wars era had its start with novels and comics, exploring the universe more than a hundred years before The Phantom Menace. There have been questions since the series was first announced on how many characters will be making their way to the screen. In a new interview by Collider with Leslye Headland, that has now been answered.

Only one will appear in this first season. Headland says that she “wanted to save some people for season two,” but also that she wanted to focus on one particular character from those novels. “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.”

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What Is Vernestra Hiding In 'The Acolyte'?

A full name of Vernestra Rwoh, Vern was introduced as a 15-year-old within the Jedi Order. With The Acolyte, Vern is older, wiser, and has some uniqueness to them. As Headland says, Vern is “someone powerfully connected to the Force, almost in love with the Force, but also sassy enough to make her lightsaber into a whip.” As one of the most powerful Jedi of the time, it makes sense to use Vern to explore the Order of this time. And the questions of, as Headland states, “How do we keep this institution going, how do we check it, how do we negotiate the level of power that we have.”

Though Headland does say that she wants to save other characters for season two, it is not yet confirmed if a season two will happen. “I would say that when I pitched it, I definitely pitched it as a multi-season show,” Headland says. “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.”

The first season of The Acolyte will arrive on Disney+ June 4 with a two-episode premiere.

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