'The Acolyte': Mysterious new 'Star Wars' show confirms cast, High Republic era mystery-thriller plot

If you loved Obi-Wan Kenobi's detective arc in Attack of the Clones, then Lucasfilm has great news for you. The Disney-owned studio announced Monday that The Acolyte, an upcoming Star Wars series from Russian Doll co-creator Leslye Headland, will be a "mystery-thriller that will take viewers into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark-side powers in the final days of the High Republic era."

Its narrative centers around a former Padawan who joins forces with her ex-Jedi Master to investigate a string of crimes (presumably committed on the seedy streets of Coruscant), "but the forces they confront are more sinister than they ever anticipated," continues the official synopsis.

With production now underway in the United Kingdom, Lucasfilm also confirmed the list of principal cast members: Amandla Stenberg (The Hate U Give), Lee Jung-jae (Squid Game), Manny Jacinto (Nine Perfect Strangers), Dafne Keen (His Dark Materials), Jodie Turner-Smith (Queen & Slim), Rebecca Henderson (Inventing Anna), Charlie Barnett (Russian Doll), Dean-Charles Chapman (1917), and Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix).

Headland serves as creator, showrunner, executive producer, and pilot director on the project, which was first announced in April of 2020. Lucasfilm head honcho Kathleen Kennedy Simon Emanuel, Jeff F. King, and Jason Micallef are also on board as executive producers. Rayne Roberts and Damian Anderson produce.

"I feel a lot of pressure, but I also feel — weirdly — enormous amounts of freedom because I don't feel like I'm dealing with legacy characters, which is a lot scarier," Headland admitted during an interview with Vanity Fair earlier this year. "I mean, you could not pay me enough money to try to be in the Luke Skywalker timeline. I'm like, 'No, thank you!' It's just too intense. There's too much iconography and intensity with those particular characters. Whereas, I think I'm telling a story that's more about a timeline we don't know much about. Let's hang out here for a little bit and check out what Star Wars looks like when the good guys are actually in charge."

Disney+ has yet to announce a premiere date for the series, though if we had to guess, we'd say it'll drop sometime between mid-to-late 2023 (or early 2024 at the latest).

Looking for more dark sci-fi space adventures? SYFY's acclaimed Battlestar Galactica adaptation is streaming now on Peacock.