By George & Josh Bate
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace has returned to theaters in honor of the film’s 25th anniversary. After the credits, a special preview of the upcoming Disney+ series The Acolyte is shown, which, at least for the time being, is exclusive to those who see The Phantom Menace in theaters. For those who will miss the re-release of Episode I, here’s a description of the special preview footage from Star Wars: The Acolyte.
The special preview consists mainly of a scene from the show. Moments from this scene feature in the first trailer for The Acolyte, but this special preview presents a greater look at this sequence.
The scene begins with Mae (played by Amandla Stenberg) entering a town. This part featured in the trailer and can be seen below.
A masked Mae, who is the lead character of The Acolyte, enters a cantina/bar and looks for a specific individual. The cantina is filled with characters of different species, including some familiar and some seemingly new to Star Wars altogether.
Mae makes her way over to a table in the back of the cantina where several people are talking with one another. One of these people sits at the back and is turned away. When Mae approaches, this individual turns around to reveal themselves as Jedi Master Indara, played by The Matrix‘s Carrie-Anne Moss.
Mae addresses Indara before the two engage in a fight that sprawls all across the cantina. Parts of this fight were shown in the trailer, but much more of it is shown during this special preview accompanying The Phantom Menace.
Show creator Leslye Headland described some of the series’ action as “Force-fu,” and that certainly seems to be an apt description based on this fight sequence between Mae and Indara. The two use the Force throughout their fight, either to make high jumps, swiftly move out of the way, or to deflect an incoming attack.
It becomes apparant during this fight that Mae is after Indara’s lightsaber. There are several times in which Mae reaches for Indara’s lightsaber, only for Indara to evade Mae. If indeed Mae is after Indara’s lightsaber, we can’t help but think this connects to what we know about the Sith. Part of the initiation procedure for Sith is to kill a Jedi and take the kyber crystal of their lightsaber to then bleed it and turn it red. Given that The Acolyte is said to be a show that focuses on the dark side, it would make sense that Mae is after Indara’s lightsaber for this very reason.
Midway through the fight Indara says to Mae, “Who sent you?” Shortly after, Indara uses a comm device to send a message, likely to other Jedi, that a skilled assassin attacked her.
The whole fight sees Indara not ignite her lightsaber. That is, until the very end in which Indara pulls out her lightsaber and reveals its green blade.
From there, the special footage transitions into what is essentially the first trailer for The Acolyte. There may be a new shot here or there, but at least 95% of the trailer consisted of shots and moments seen previously.
Overall, the scene presented from The Acolyte was very impressive. The action evoked the swift movements of prequel-era Jedi and feels decidedly different that anything we’ve seen in Star Wars before. There’s a John Wick-esque intricacy to the fight choreography, coupled with an acrobatic bend that hasn’t featured in live-action Star Wars before. If this is a taste of what’s to come regarding the action in The Acolyte, Star Wars fans are seemingly in for a treat.
The Acolyte premieres June 4 on Disney+. Stay tuned to The HoloFiles and Star Wars Holocron for continued coverage of the show!