What Is the Plot of Star Wars: The Acolyte?

The Acolyte is an eight-episode TV series that is expected to air on the Disney+ streaming platform sometime in 2024. News of its upcoming release has inspired the customary speculations among the fan community relating to the content of this new installment in Star Wars canon. The snowballing excitement surrounding The Acolyte isn’t without a firm basis: Disney reportedly spent an eye-crossing $49.2 million just on pre-production for the new series—more than it spent on pre-production for Rogue One.

So what is to be expected of this Star Wars series that its creator Leslye Headland pitched as "Frozen meets Kill Bill"? As usual, the information that has emerged about The Acolyte’s plot is less extensive than fans might prefer, but the various media leaks have provided enough to give them a tantalizing, if incomplete, picture of what the new release will be like. For one thing, it has been confirmed that the series will take place toward the end of the High Republic era—a much-overlooked period in Star Wars lore that is worth learning about.

The Focus of The Acolyte

What is The Acolyte about? There’s no better source of information pertaining to all things Star Wars than the official site at StarWars.com. The series synopsis posted there runs as follows:

“The Acolyte is 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. A former Padawan reunites with her Jedi Master to investigate a series of crimes, but the forces they confront are more sinister than they ever anticipated.”

The Padawan will be played by Amandla Stenberg (who recently lent her voice to Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse), while the shoes of the Jedi Master will be filled by Lee Jung-jae (from Squid Game). Other notables in the cast include Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Jodie Turner-Smith, Rebecca Henderson, Charlie Barnett, Dean-Charles Chapman, and Joonas Suotamo (playing a Wookiee Jedi). And Keanu Reeves is said to make a cameo appearance somewhere along the way.

Not much more is known about the storyline, but there are a few intriguing details that have been released. Actress Dafne Keen told CBR.com that the series is “kind of an explanation of how the Sith infiltrated the Jedi. It's a Sith-led story, which has never been done before.”

Reportedly, the series places a heavy emphasis on martial artistry—that’s apparently where the Kill Bill influence comes in. There’s also a distinct lack of blaster action. The absence of blasters makes perfect sense considering that this specialized type of armament had a relatively late introduction into the Star Wars universe.