The Acolyte creator Leslye Headland says the show is somewhere between Andor and The Mandalorian and she also talks Season 2. For me, who definitely likes Mando, but prefers the tone of Andor, that’s good news. Headland has been speaking with more than one outlet after yesterday’s teaser trailer for The Acolyte. This particular interview for Headland was with Collider.

Asked if The Acolyte was more like Mando or Andor Headland replied;

“I think it’s in between. I think it’s very much in between, meaning it’s a serialized storyline, it’s not episodic. There’s an overarching story that’s told over the course of eight episodes. It is a mystery thriller, meaning each episode you have to watch in order to get more information, and start to get invested. I found with Andor, it really built into something that was exciting, and had this incredible payoff at the end. We were definitely trying to do something similar narratively.”

“But I would say in terms of the more Mandalorian aspects of it, there are a lot of alien references, a lot of Clone War references, a lot of original trilogy references. Basically, all of the stuff that I love about Star Wars, and I think are recognizable but no Post-Empire or current Empire iconography. So no Stormtroopers. We don’t have anything to rely on that anchors you in the Skywalker Saga, or post-Skywalker Saga.”

RELATED: Disney+ Unveils Trailer For New “Star Wars: The Acolyte” Series

This makes a lot of sense. The Republic and it’s make up will be familiar, with the same races and planets etc. However, this is long before Palpatine and his efforts to turn the Republic into his Empire. Also, I think a lot of fans, I know Kyle Malone and Myself from The Cantina for two will be pleased this show has no connections to the Skywalker Saga. The worst thing The Acolyte could do is make it about the prophecy, or some big set up for Palpatine being the Sith to finally achieve domination.

The Acolyte and this era, needs to be it’s own story. For sure we will find out how we got from the High Republic to the darker times we find in The Phantom Menace. As long as it’s not about Anakin. As for what does come next, all the signs point to The Acolyte being on ongoing series for multiple seasons on Disney+.

Season 2

“I would say that when I pitched it, I definitely pitched it as a multi-season show. There are a lot of things at the end of this season that I think are narrative threads that are not tied up, for sure. However, I am the type of writer that is not interested in an emotional cliffhanger. I want you to feel like you’ve had a particular type of catharsis, and an emotional experience in watching those eight episodes because I like rewarding the audience with that.”

“I still think that means you can pepper in things that are like, “I wanna see where that’s gonna go” and, “Oh, I didn’t realize that person was related to that person in this way, and I’d like to see more.” But there isn’t something where you feel like you’re on the edge of your seat to have that catharsis, and then you have to wait two years. These things take forever to make, so I would hate to make a season that didn’t feel complete, even if it was still open for more story.”

Already Greenlit?

Also, according to Headland, if they get the greenlight for Season 2 as she hopes, the turnaround won’t be too bad. In fact, it kinda sounds like Lucasfilm has already greenlit Season 2, but Headland needs a break before starting.

“We could make it pretty quickly. We definitely have a timeline. I have a lot of ideas, and again, a lot of it was stuff that I told Kathleen early on, in terms of where I would like the season to go, and the conflicts that I see happening, specifically in the second season. But I have been working nonstop on this for a very long time, so I am definitely taking a much needed break before we get the writer room going.”

“And I’d like to see how the show performs. I’m very interested in that. I’m interested in seeing, like you said, the ratings and seeing what are the things that people…I don’t wanna say it’s in reaction to fan reaction, but you do get feedback at the end of the season, which is kind of nice, to just be like, “ok, those people hated that.” It doesn’t mean we don’t do it, it just means we’re armed with the information that that was an unpopular thing. So we can do it anyway, but knowing that stuff, I think, is really good. I think they would love to start it immediately. They’re very happy with the series. But I need a break. I also have a baby. I don’t know where the baby came from, I know she’s giving me a cold [laughs].”

The Themes Explored

Headland also spoke a little about some of the themes being explored in The Acolyte.

“I’ve always seen Star Wars as…well, I wouldn’t say all of Star Wars. I think Star Wars is really complicated, but I think one of the themes of Star Wars is usually underdog versus institutional threat, right? That’s one aspect of it. And to me, in that particular era, the Jedi are not a threat at all. They’re a benevolent, balanced, I think well-intentioned, beautiful institution that has amassed an enormous amount of power. So the question becomes, is it right for an institution to have that much power? I think that sometimes people get a little caught up in the morality of “Oh, the good people can use power, and the bad people can’t,” and it’s more about who is allowed to amass power, and who is allowed to use it for their own ends.”

RELATED: Amandla Stenberg Talks Conceptions Of The Force Being Explored In The Acolyte

“What if you are Force sensitive and you don’t wanna become a Jedi? What happens then? Are you not allowed to utilize your power? George would say that it fades without training, but is there no training going on at all, in the whole galaxy? No one has figured out a way to do that beyond the Jedi. Obviously we know that the Sith are still doing the Rule of Two at this point, so there’s a training aspect going on in that sense.”

“You have Force Witches, similar to Nightsisters, who are training each other, we know that. There are no Nightsisters in the show, but we just know that there are different factions, and even in the EU and in the High Republic, there’s talk of Force cults that have decided to retreat from society, and now I’m getting too nerdy. But anyway, point being, it is an institution allowed to amass that amount of power, even if their intentions are, are “good””

Episode Length

Headland also revealed the episode lengths, roughly for the series in Season 1.

“About 30 minutes, yeah. I would say some of them are a little bit longer, like the finale, I think it’s 40 minutes. But there are also some that I think are barely 30 minutes. On average, I would say somewhere between like 30-35 [minutes].”

I’ve said many times that episode length is not an issue or should not be. It is using that time well to tell a compelling story, let’s hope that’s what happened here?

Headland had more comments about the show in the source article linked above. She discussed why there is only one character in the show who appeared in the High Republic books, and a few other tidbits, teasing there will be more to see when the full trailer hits. Check out Collider for all Headland’s comments.

Or, let us know what you think below with regards to The Acolyte creator Leslye Headland’s comments? The show is somewhere between Andor and The Mandalorian and she also talks Season 2, which sounds like it could happen quickly.

Thoughts below, thanks for reading.

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