The Animated Star Wars Characters Who Inspired The Acolyte

Praise the Mortis Gods! "The Acolyte" is giving us a reason to get excited about live-action "Star Wars" television again while we patiently await the return of "Andor." After "The Mandalorian" season 3 saw its namesake frustratingly sidelined in favor of setting up Dave Filoni's larger New Republic arc and "Ahsoka" season 1 left some feeling like the convergence of live-action and animated "Star Wars" is a real mixed blessing, "Russian Doll" creator Leslye Headland is here to change things up. "The Acolyte" is set in the High Republic era, a period that's been explored in the High Republic initiative but has never before been realized in live-action. That alone should be enough to pique the interest of anyone who's ready for a "Star Wars" series less beholden to setting up future shows and better equipped to stand on its own.

That's not to say "The Acolyte" will be devoid of links to other "Star Wars" titles (nor that it has to be). Jedi Knight Vernestra Rwoh, who's played by Rebecca Henderson in "The Acolyte," has already made her debut prior to the show, most recently showing up in Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland's High Republic novel "Star Wars: Defy the Storm." Likewise, it's entirely plausible the mysterious villain glimpsed wielding a red lightsaber in the official "Acolyte" trailer will be linked directly to a certain familiar Sith Lord. Presumably, though, since the show is said to take place 100 years before "The Phantom Menace," he won't be stopping by in person, assuming we're not about to meet the "Muppet Babies" equivalent of Palpatine (which I kind of want to see now).

Headland has similarly confirmed that there won't be any Nightsisters showing up in "The Acolyte" — although the fan-favorite "Clone Wars" characters were very much an inspiration for the series.

Space witches? In my "Star Wars"? The Nightsisters of Dathomir originated in the defunct Expanded Universe (aka Star Wars Legends), only to make the jump to animation as an important element of the "Clone Wars" series. They've since come to enjoy an even bigger role in the franchise under Filoni's reign as Lucasfilm's newly appointed Chief Creative Officer, playing a pivotal role in "Ahsoka" and shaping Headland's approach to a story in which the Sith has seemingly vanished and the Jedi exist in abundant numbers. As the showrunner explained to IGN:

"[...] 'The Clone Wars' [inspired 'The Acolyte'], a lot being inspired by Nightsisters. We don't have any Nightsisters in this show, but being inspired by them, being inspired by Asajj Ventress. My favorite ['Clone Wars'] episode is 'The Wrong Jedi.' I definitely took some inspiration from that."

"The Wrong Jedi" is part of the "Clone Wars" arc that saw Ahsoka Tano leave the Jedi Order, a great (and highly important) storyline that delved deeply into the inner workings of the Jedi Order and often played like a political thriller set in the "Star Wars" universe. It also led Ahsoka to really question her understanding of the power dynamics among Force users when she found herself collaborating with Count Dooku's scorned apprentice, the Nighsister Asajj Ventress, in an attempt to prove her innocence. Suffice it to say, the idea of Headland drawing heavily from that arc for "The Acolyte" should come as exciting news to anyone hoping for another "Andor"-style mix of action and political intrigue here. Moreover, between that and her returning from the dead (?) in the final season of "The Bad Batch," 2024 is quickly shaping up to be the year of Asajj Ventress in the best way.

"The Acolyte" premieres on June 4, 2024, on Disney+.