Someone might need to tell Kathleen Kennedy that finally admitting to the use of elements from the Star Wars Expanded Universe/Legends canon isn’t as much of a revelation as she appears to think, since a lot of ‘original’ ideas seen in the recent additions to Star Wars at this point have drawn heavily from the EU. It’s not hard to figure that she and many others at Lucasfilm are banking on the thought that many people might know next to nothing about the EU and could be fooled into thinking that the prequel trilogy pulled nothing from the books and comics and games. But those of us that have been around long enough to have read the books and played the games know better since we’ve recognized several elements at this point no doubt. But getting away from the need to question Kennedy and the rest of Lucasfilm for the moment, it would appear that The Acolyte is going to be leaning heavily into elements of the EU to tell its story. The show isn’t expected to arrive on Disney+ until 2023, so there’s plenty of time to find out more about the overall story.
For now, next to nothing is really known about the show other than it’s going to take place a century before The Phantom Menace. Where it might be a bit troubling is that it appears that the story will detail the emergence of dark side Force powers after the fall of the High Republic. Just when one gets the idea that Lucasfilm might finally be getting around to the practice of actually adapting what’s been seen in the books, they pull the rug out from under people yet again, or so it would appear, since many fans understand that the dark side has been around for much longer than the fall of the High Republic. It could very easily be seen that the wording is what will be misconstrued, rather than the overall idea for this show, but with Lucasfilm’s current track record under Disney, it’s not a safe bet to make.
If The Acolyte is bound to show how the Force truly came to be viewed and used by those within this universe, it would be set thousands of years in the past, not just a century, since the dark side of the Force and the Sith, who were initially a race, not just a philosophy, were part of the story long ago. If The Acolyte does treat the dark side of the Force as a new development then it will have already pulled away from the EU in a big way since the Legends canon makes it clear that the Sith order did exist long ago, much longer than a century before TPM. But what we’re going to see is anyone’s guess at this point since the majority of details pertaining to this show haven’t been revealed at this time. It would be great to see a show finally adopt the Legends canon, but simply reading what’s being put into this upcoming series is, at this time, a little less than appealing. If this show were to bring forth some of the more recognized and desired faces and names, it might be a little more acceptable to many fans.
The fact that Star Wars is changing is enough to draw a lot of people into the discussion of whether the franchise is headed in a good or bad direction, and the truth is that it’s simply heading in a direction, and it’s neither good nor bad. That sounds a little confusing, right? The fact is that the Star Wars fanbase is a bit of a problem since the fans tend to lean one way or another depending on the show or the movie, and they’re notoriously fickle most of the time when it comes to getting what they want. But there are still plenty of fans who are willing to accept that the franchise is changing, and will roll with the changes and adapt to them as much as possible. One thing The Acolyte will no doubt have to do to find success with the fans is to actually come through on the idea of showing how the EU can work within the current canon of the Star Wars universe since otherwise, it feels certain that this show won’t garner that much support if it falls below expectations.
As of now though, the mystery and intrigue of it, and the idea that it will possibly show the EU canon, is enough to appease some fans since many people have been wanting to see more of the EU since Disney decided to scrap it upon buying up Lucasfilm. What will come as a result of this show’s announcement will be interesting to see, and will likely continue the idea that Star Wars is going to keep changing.
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