Anticipated Star Wars Series Getting Delayed?
It looks like one of the most anticipated Star Wars series could be delayed!
Of the many Star Wars series announced so far, one of the most highly anticipated — particularly by the more thoroughly initiated fandom — is The Acolyte. The series’ name and concept were revealed at the end of December 2020. Last month reports emerged that the series would film in February 2022, but a more recent story claims production on the show has been delayed by at least a few months.
The update comes from The Illuminerdi, who credits unnamed insider sources with the reports that the beginning of filming on The Acolyte has been pushed back to summer 2022. While the site doesn’t get any more precise than “summer,” assuming that initial reports of a February start date were true in the first place, that’s a delay of at least four months. That’s bad news for Star Wars fans, but considering all the franchise has coming, they probably won’t be left without anything to watch.
Still, for plenty of Star Wars lovers, The Acolyte can’t come soon enough. While upcoming shows like The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, Andor, and Obi-Wan Kenobi will reunite fans with favorite heroes, anti-heroes, and villains, The Acolyte promises something we haven’t seen before in the franchise’s television or film media. The series has been described as a mystery thriller set in what is known as the High Republic era of Star Wars. While fans have gotten the chance to experience this time in other media like books and comics, The Acolyte will be the first time the High Republic will come to life in live-action media.
Lasting a little over two centuries, the time of the High Republic is known as a golden age for both the Galactic Republic and the Jedi. There are more Jedi during the time of the High Republic, and without an Empire or Separatists to fight, they have much more time for exploration. The Illuminerdi reports that the new Star Wars series will take place closer to the end the High Republic, hundreds of years before the events of The Phantom Menace.
While it hasn’t been confirmed, reports have indicated that The Acolyte will include the first live-action appearance of the expanded universe villain Darth Revan, a character first appearing in the popular 2003 video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Before Disney’s acquisition of the franchise, having Revan appear during the High Republic would likely seem strange since the Old Republic and High Republic were originally considered to be two different eras separated by millennia. Now, with a more streamlined history setting the High Republic at the beginning of the franchise’s timeline, Revan could very well make his first canonical appearance.
Revan could also be the perfect Big Bad for The Acolyte. The series will reportedly explore the beginning of the Dark Side’s infiltration of the galaxy. It could be that Revan will be at the spearhead of the Dark Side. We might also meet Darth Plagueis — the legendary Sith who could supposedly bring the dead back to life, who Palpatine tells Anakin about in 2005’s Revenge of the Sith.
