The Acolyte's Leslye Headland And Dave Filoni Discuss Star Wars Storytelling

Next week, The Acolyte will take Star Wars fans into an era that's been previously unexplored in live-action. The Acolyte is set near the end of the High Republic, approximately 100 years before The Phantom Menace. But while the time frame is different, some Star Wars constants remain. In a newly posted video, The Acolyte's creator Leslye Headland and Lucasfilm's chief creative officer Dave Filoni spoke about some of the parallels between the story in the new show and what we've seen in the previous Star Wars tales.

"What I was interested in examining were the Sith," said Headland in the video. "The Master-Apprentice dynamic. If the Apprentice is craving the Master's power, then at some point, he must recruit his Apprentice to overthrow the Master. And that is the Acolyte."

Filoni pointed out that many Star Wars villains, including Darth Vader, don't see themselves as bad guys. That's a theme that will come up in The Acolyte as well.

"The characters in The Acolyte have to convince themselves that they are doing the right thing," related Headland.

Additionally, Filoni shared a story about working on Star Wars: The Clone Wars with George Lucas where the latter explained why Ahsoka Tano couldn't and shouldn't be in over her head during the war. That was also a note that Headland carried over to The Acolyte when the young Jedi encounter their enemies.

The Acolyte will have a two-episode premiere on Disney+ on June 4.