Posted in: Disney+, Star Wars, TV | Tagged: amandla stenberg, disney, Lee Jung-Jae, Leslye Headland, Manny Jacinto, Rebecca Henderson, star wars, Star Wars: The Acolyte, The Acolyte

The Acolyte Creator Leslye Headland on Season 2 Possibilities & More

Lucasfilm's The Acolyte creator Leslye Headland reflects on what was accomplished with the Star Wars series and some Season 2 possibilities.

The Acolyte creator Leslye Headland has a lot to hang her hat on for putting together the ambitious dark Star Wars series that saw the rise of a Sith and his new apprentice by the finale, as the title suggests, and the fall of four Jedi. Qimir, also known as The Stranger (Manny Jacinto), was able to take in Osha (Amandla Stenberg) to help teach her the Dark Side of the Force after she only scratched the surface with the Light under Jedi Master Sol (Lee Jung-jae). By the time the dust settled, her twin, Mae (Stenberg), who was out for revenge, had her memories wiped by Qimir as Sol's handler, Jedi Master Vernestra Rwoh, played by Headland's wife Rebecca Henderson), takes her in, and devises a conspiracy to pin all the murdered Jedi on Sol before the final shot of season one takes her to Yoda. Headland spoke to Entertainment Weekly as she reflects on season one and what we can look forward to if Disney & Lucasfilm greenlight a second season.

Leslye Headland Reflects Season One and Teases Season Two

Headland confirmed she hadn't heard anything but wasn't hung up over the wait. "You have to take a break," she said. "Especially after something like this. I don't even know how many years my brain has been going, Star Wars, Star Wars, Star Wars, Acolyte, Acolyte, Acolyte — just constantly solving problems, constantly thinking about it. It is very weird to now be in a place where I don't need to do that. I always say to budding writers, 'The most important thing that you can do is sit around and do nothing. Because the second you start to manufacture a story, you're going to get stressed out, and the story can't start that way.'"

The creator is still processing what could be, "My brain is still doing it," Headland said, laughing. "It's almost like if you're running, you can't just stop, can't shut off." During the season finale titled "The Acolyte," we saw Senator Rayencourt (David Harewood) at odds with Vernestra because of what he feels is the lack of proper transparency against the Jedi Order. "A generation or two generations have gone by since the Nihil," she said, referring to the antagonist group in the High Republic novels. "There was a lot of drama, so it was just logical to me that there would be more of this button-down [idea]: 'We're trying to avoid the mistake. Let's limit the power. Let's do that before someone asks us to.' And it was just logical to me to show Vernestra as the bridge for that."

Vernestra was the only High Republic character to her live-action debut in the Disney+ series as the big reveal of Qimir as her former apprentice, and if season two were to go that direction, "I can't confirm or deny that that is something we are thinking about," Headland said, "but I think if we're allowed to continue telling this story, you'll see more of Vern's history with the Stranger and how that's affecting the decisions she's making now." With eight episodes, Headland did regret having to sacrifice Vernestra's backstory.

"That was something I kept trying to slip in, but there was so much," Headland said with a sigh. "It's a really packed season, and I love that. My goal is to explore as many nooks and crannies as I can in the time I am given, and Star Wars is the perfect place to do that because there's nothing but good nooks and crannies — all of this world that's available to you that you can dig into. So, of course, there were things that I didn't get to explore." The big mystery leading to season two was the introduction of Qimir's master, Darth Plagueis, and the reintroduction of Yoda. "If I couldn't do Plagueis or Yoda, I think that would've been a real heartbreak," she said. "I think it sets up future storylines that could be really compelling."

Plagueis' reveal is meant to be part of that exclamation point of the season finale, not left to gamble on The Acolyte seeing a season two. "We wanted to answer a lot of questions," Headland said. "We wanted to show Qimir's master. We weren't going to wait a second season for that. We wanted to wrap up the twin storyline. We were not going to leave everybody hanging. They've sat through all of this, and we want to reward people for watching." For more, including Headland appreciating how far she's come along in her accomplishments creatively as a woman and lesbian in Hollywood, you can check out the complete interview.

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