Star Wars television is constantly working to stay fresh. Even though every series so far has been set before the sequel trilogy, new elements and storylines are added into the gaps in between movies. But this strategy will be put to the test with The Acolyte, which is set further in the past than any previous show. A new interview with Acolyte showrunner Leslye Headland suggests the series sets up a new method that next appears almost 150 years later, but will clearly only become more common.
The Acolyte boasts an all-star cast including Amandla Stenberg, Dafne Keen, and Lee Jung-Jae, but the series will also feature iconic sci-fi actress Carrie-Anne Moss, best known for playing Trinity in the Matrix saga, as Jedi Master Indara. According to Headland, this casting was entirely deliberate.
“I personally wanted to see someone who had the highest status you could imagine in a Force-fu fight,” Headland told Empire Magazine. “Somebody that would come in and you immediately would be like, ‘Oh, that’s the most powerful Jedi in the room.’ And that’s Trinity.”
This is our first blatant confirmation that The Acolyte will feature Force-fu, the Force-assisted martial art we first saw in Ahsoka when Ezra Bridger, the Jedi abandoned for years on the Peridea galaxy, uses it to defend himself against Shin Hati. It’s so powerful, he’s even able to stop her lightsaber mid-swing.
In Ahsoka, Ezra uses Force-fu because he was stranded without his lightsaber and had to make do. In that case, why would a character in The Acolyte — a series that is set when the Jedi were at their peak — also use it? Is it a matter of honor, simply more impressive to win a fight without drawing a weapon, or does Master Indara specifically prefer hand-to-hand (or rather, Force-to-hand) combat?
This quote also seems to give more evidence to an emerging fan theory that Jedi Master Indara will be the first victim of a mysterious assassin slaughtering Jedi. If she’s “the most powerful Jedi in the room,” then why is she only in one shot of the trailer? Indara may be one of the most talented fighters of the era, but that could just make her more of a target for a murderer.
If Force-fu appears in The Acolyte, then we will have seen it at the earliest and latest point in the Star Wars live-action TV universe. If it’s prevalent at both points, more than a century apart, then it’s likely this feature of the franchise will just keep appearing in future projects all over the timeline.
The Acolyte premieres June 5, 2024 on Disney+.
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