Star Wars: The Acolyte continues to intrigue and divide fans in equal measure. Despite that latter point, it looks set to be be a crucial chapter in the story of how the Sith returned to prominence before The Phantom Menace.
The Disney+ series reportedly takes place roughly 100 years before the events of that movie, meaning we're likely to meet Emperor Palpatine's Master, Darth Plagueis (or, at the very least, his Master, Darth Tenebrous).
We've seen more than a few glimpses of a red lightsaber in recent promos for The Acolyte, and in an interview with SFX (via SFFGazette.com), executive producer Simon Emanuel revealed that he enlisted action designer Chris Clark Cowan to work on the show.
Why does that matter? Well, he was one of the key creatives behind Rogue One: A Star Wars Story's unforgettable Darth Vader hallway scene!
"I introduced Leslye [Headland] to a guy called Chris Clark Cowan, who was our action designer, and part of the team who worked on the Darth Vader sequence in Rogue One," he explained. "Leslye and Chris completely fell in love, and action became such a component of this story. For me, it's the best action the franchise has seen - and there's so much of it."
That bodes well, and it turns out The Acolyte also pulled inspiration from another iconic action franchise: Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill movies.
"The thing I got very excited about was Kill Bill," Emanuel noted. "One of the things we talked about really early on was the action...in these kinds of shows, action has to be a character."
In related news, some eye-catching new character posters for The Acolyte have also been spotted out in the wild highlighting several of the show's leads. Take a closer look at those out in the X post below.
In The Acolyte, an investigation into a shocking crime spree pits a respected Jedi Master (Lee Jung-jae) against a dangerous warrior from his past (Amandla Stenberg). As more clues emerge, they travel down a dark path where sinister forces reveal all is not what it seems...
The series stars Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Jodie Turner-Smith, Rebecca Henderson, Dean-Charles Chapman, Joonas Suotamo, and Carrie-Anne Moss.
The next Star Wars TV series comes from creator and showrunner Leslye Headland (Russian Doll), who also serves as executive producer alongside Kathleen Kennedy, Simon Emanuel, Jeff F. King, and Jason Micallef. Charmaine DeGraté and Kor Adana are the co-executive producers, and Rayne Roberts and Damian Anderson are producing.
The Acolyte will premiere on Disney+ on June 4.