Star Wars made a change to the darkish aspect of the Pressure in The Acolyte, and the Stranger actor Manny Jacinto defined what the motivation for it was a yr later. Although it proved divisive, The Acolyte included a number of huge moments for Star Wars tv. It was the primary time the Excessive Republic period was depicted in live-action, for instance, and it delved deep into the darkish aspect of the Pressure.
Throughout Fan Expo Chicago’s Manny Jacinto panel, hosted by ScreenRant’s Joe Deckelmeier, Manny Jacinto defined that The Acolyte was attempting to redefine how an individual is “seduced” to the darkish aspect of the Pressure. Leslye Headland, the creator of The Acolyte, needed to leverage the Jedi Order’s errors throughout the Excessive Republic period to create a extra compelling argument for becoming a member of the darkish aspect.
Fan query: What was it like getting into a personality like that in Star Wars, the place plenty of issues are very black and white, you are not precisely within the grey, but additionally have a legitimate level to make?
Manny Jacinto: I imply, that is what I cherished about this character. Leslye [Headland] in her head, the entire theme of this storyline was, what’s it like to essentially be seduced by the Darkish Aspect and in numerous points? One of many points was, yeah, like, how do you could have a convincing argument to have the ability to come [to the Dark Side]? As a result of, from what we have seen earlier than, no offense, I by no means actually purchased it per se. Like I see it and it is cool, however I do not assume I might have crossed over sides only for that.
However I believe what we actually needed to do is have a robust argument with reference to, I simply have a distinct lifestyle, if you happen to do not settle for that, then it is nice. Simply seeing the outsiders’ viewpoint and the way, whatever the individuals in energy, there may be an abuse of energy, no matter if you happen to’re thought of good or dangerous. It was a nice line to play, was an excellent character to form of lean into, with the steering of Leslye, as a result of, once more, it is similar to, how do you persuade some individuals who love the Jedi a lot to return over to the Darkish Aspect?
As Jacinto famous, The Acolyte targeted on highlighting the shortcomings of the Jedi Order and the sunshine aspect of the Pressure when crafting its lure to the darkish aspect. The Stranger made certain to emphasise how the Jedi’s failures led to the tragedy on Brendok and in Vernestra Rwoh’s failure to coach him. He additionally satisfied Osha to hitch him by providing her an opportunity to cease the Jedi’s abuses of energy.
Jacinto talked about that there wasn’t an excellent cause to hitch the darkish aspect previous to The Acolyte. Anakin Skywalker joined out of his love and obsession with Padmé Amidala, however others joined merely for energy. Anakin’s motivations labored for his story, however The Acolyte introduced an argument for becoming a member of the darkish aspect that was rather more common and, at the very least to Jacinto, convincing.
Nevertheless, The Acolyte did not current a completely novel tackle the darkish aspect’s seduction. Depend Dooku was drawn away from the Jedi Order for the exact same causes: he noticed the conceitedness and flaws within the Jedi Order. It is also the identical motivation Kylo Ren used on Rey in The Final Jedi: creating a brand new order that does not repeat the errors of the Jedi or the Sith.
The Acolyte did, nevertheless, lean extra into the grey areas of Star Wars than many different tales have. As Jacinto talked about, a lot of the Stranger’s plan hinged on merely presenting his lifestyle to Osha and letting her resolve if she needed to observe him. It is an attention-grabbing tackle the Jedi/Sith dichotomy, and hopefully one which Star Wars will not abandon fully.
Our Take On The Acolyte’s Concept Of Being Seduced By The Darkish Aspect
Qimir shirtless in The Acolyte
Manny Jacinto’s feedback about how The Acolyte depicted Osha’s seduction to the darkish aspect spotlight an unlucky fact: the present had plenty of good concepts that received muddled in execution. It could have been actually cool to see a Sith craft a extra convincing argument for the darkish aspect, however The Acolyte ended up being a mixture of Dooku and Kylo Ren’s earlier reasoning.
It is also a disgrace to know that Jacinto probably will not get an opportunity to play the Stranger once more. Jacinto clearly understands the character and his motivations, and he is clearly very obsessed with him. The Stranger was additionally one of many stronger and extra universally preferred components of The Acolyte, however his time on the small display screen has seemingly come to a untimely finish.
Jacinto’s feedback additionally spotlight one other unlucky fact: The Acolyte by no means received an opportunity to comprehend its potential. It had an admittedly rocky begin, however The Acolyte was canceled earlier than it may really discover its stride. If The Acolyte season 2 had occurred, we might have gotten to see extra of the Stranger’s seduction and gotten a fair nearer take a look at the grey areas of Star Wars.
The Acolyte
7/10
Launch Date
2024 – 2024-00-00
Showrunner
Leslye Headland
Administrators
Leslye Headland, Alex Garcia Lopez
