The Acolyte’s first trailer embraces the Dark Side of Star Wars

Amandla Stenberg as Mae in The Acolyte. — Lucasfilm

Since the launch of Disney+ in 2019, there have been four live-action Star Wars series, including The Mandalorian and Andor. But the one thing that each of those shows had in common was that they followed the hero of the story. This summer, The Acolyte is flipping the switch on that by putting the spotlight on Mae (Amandla Stenberg), a former Padawan in the Jedi Order who seems to have quite a grudge against her onetime masters. That may be why Mae is attacking and apparently killing Jedi with knives in the first trailer for The Acolyte.

Squid Game‘s Lee Jung-jae is prominently featured in the trailer as Jedi Master Sol, the teacher of the younglings in the Jedi Temple. Presumably, the girl who sees fire in her visions is a younger version of Mae. The trailer doesn’t fully explain why Mae is on such a murderous rampage, but another character, Mother Aniseya (Jodie Turner-Smith), suggests that it’s not about good or evil. It’s about power.

The Matrix‘s Carrie-Anne Moss makes her Star Wars debut as Jedi Master Indara, and she’s so skilled that Mae’s knife attacks can’t get close to her. However, the body count that Mae has apparently left in her wake suggests that not every Jedi has been as fortunate.

Dafne Keen as Jecki in The Acolyte. — Lucasfilm / Lucasfilm

She may be unrecognizable under all of that makeup, but the character pictured above, Jecki, is played by Dafne Keen, who previously starred in Logan and His Dark Materials. Jecki and her fellow young Jedi come across an even more serious threat at the end as the telltale red lightsaber suggests that a Sith member is attacking them. Whether Mae is the Sith in question remains to be seen.

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

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