Light and Dark Collide in First Trailer for Disney+’s Star Wars Series The Acolyte

Disney+ has just released the first trailer for the highly anticipated live-action series The Acolyte. Though some of this footage premiered at Star Wars Celebration last year, this is the first time any of it has been made widely available. The series, set approximately 100 years before The Phantom Menace, marks the first onscreen Star Wars property that is completely removed from the timeline of the Skywalker Saga.

According to a press release, “in The Acolyte, an investigation into a shocking crime spree pits a respected Jedi Master (Lee Jung-jae) against a dangerous warrior from his past (Amandla Stenberg). As more clues emerge, they travel down a dark path where sinister forces reveal all is not what it seems….”

The trailer opens on a group of younglings who are being taught the ways of the Force by Sol (Jung-jae), a Jedi Master. Sol is warning the students that their eyes cannot be trusted, a sentiment echoed by Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original Star Wars film. This classroom setting is interspersed with shots of a hooded figure, played by Carrie-Anne Moss, as she enters into a cantina. Before long, she is engaged in an intense, samurai-inspired fight sequence with a masked character.

As Jedi are being murdered, a group of warriors are seen banding together in an attempt to hunt out the evil and bring balance back to the galaxy. Title cards promise that “in an age of light, darkness rises,” a statement that is reminiscent of Emperor Snoke’s words in The Last Jedi.

In addition to Jung-jae and Stenberg, the series stars Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Jodie Turner-Smith, Rebecca Henderson, Dean-Charles Chapman, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Joonas Suotamo. Suotamo, who previously played Chewbacca in the sequel trilogy, will be playing another Wookiee character here.

The Acolyte is created by Leslye Headland (Russian Doll), who also also directed the first two episodes. Other episodes are directed by Kogonada, Alex Garcia Lopez, and Hanelle Culpepper. The series is scored by Michael Abels, who has worked with Jordan Peele on Get Out and Us. The series will run for eight episodes, with one dropping every week following its initial two-episode debut.

Watch the trailer below; The Acolyte premieres June 4th on Disney+.

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