Not much is known about the upcoming Disney Plus series Star Wars: The Acolyte, and apparently that sentiment extends to some of the folks working on it as well. Showrunner Leslye Headland was already a totally unorthodox choice to helm a Star Wars series, but according to her, that might be exactly what the franchise needs.
Headland is perhaps best known as co-creator of the acclaimed Netflix series Russian Doll, along with some rather adult-oriented comedies like Bachelorette and Sleeping With Other People. So her position as showrunner for a new Star Wars show set in the largely unexplored High Republic era was inspired, to say the least. Inspired by what? Hard to say at this point. But she specifically elected to take a decidedly unconventional approach to the whole project, including who she hired to write the series.
“Mostly what I looked for were people that I felt could execute a great script, number one,” Headland said when discussing her hiring process with The AV Club. Not only was writing ability her focus, but she also aimed for a more diverse writing room in terms of how the team connects with the Star Wars franchise. “There were people like myself that were like later-in-life [Dave] Filoni acolytes. I literally had one writer that was like, ‘I have never seen any of them. I’ve never seen any Star Wars media.’ And she’s texting me before we started the room, she’s like, ‘Luke and Leia are brother and sister, what the…?’’”
Headland explained that this sort of dynamic and relationship to the series as a whole is important in order to provide the best script and story they can create. The idea was that hardcore Star Wars fans are more likely to have a strict idea in their heads of what it means to be Star Wars, making them less likely to think outside the box and approve any ideas that might stray even a small bit outside that preconceived notion. Meanwhile, a team with less of a personal connection doesn’t share that limitation, and is more open to offering new ideas while also pointing out if a concept doesn’t work for someone who isn’t laser focused on the source material.
It’s not difficult to see why such an approach would be beneficial to the franchise as a whole. After all, Rian Johnson’s extremely unique take on the material with The Last Jedi provided some of the best storytelling in the series to date. Its effect was diminished quite a bit by the disjointed feel of the sequel trilogy in general, but if his methods were applied to an entire trilogy or even a standalone film, it could have taken Star Wars to places many could have never imagined.
So considering how the entirety of Star Wars: The Acolyte will presumably feature the same writing and production teams, odds are it will be a far more cohesive experience. Where The Last Jedi floundered due to being a sole diamond in the chaotic rough, The Acolyte may very well glow as a shining beacon of unexplored possibilities.
Star Wars: The Acolyte currently has no release date.
Source: AV Club
