‘The Acolyte’ will take place 100 years before ‘The Phantom Menace’ and will address the Sith conspiracy

In Vanity Fair‘s new article about the future of Star Wars on TV, The Acolyte showrunner Leslye Headland says that the writing is largely complete and the show is in the casting phase. She also specifies that The Acolyte will take place roughly 100 years before Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.

“A lot of those characters haven’t even been born yet. We’re taking a look at the political and personal and spiritual things that came up in a time period that we don’t know much about”, adds Headland. “My question when watching The Phantom Menace was always like, ‘Well, how did things get to this point?’ How did we get to a point where a Sith lord can infiltrate the Senate and none of the Jedi pick up on it? Like, what went wrong? What are the scenarios that led us to this moment?”

The Jedi had a different dressing style and mindset in the High Republic era, as the comics and novels have already revealed.

“We actually use the term the Renaissance, or the Age of Enlightenment”, says Headland. “The Jedi uniforms are gold and white, and it’s almost like they would never get dirty. They would never be out and about. The idea is that they could have these types of uniforms because that’s how little they’re getting into skirmishes.”

The links between The Acolyte and the Prequel Trilogy are very intriguing. This is definitely the current Star Wars project that interests me most after Obi-Wan Kenobi. But the series certainly won’t come out before late 2023 so… Patience.