Every upcoming Star Wars movie and show, ranked by hype

4. The Acolyte

Set in the final days of the High Republic era many years before the Star Wars saga we know, The Acolyte is set to be the first live-action series focusing on the Dark Side of the Force. There are always two Sith: a master and an apprentice. The apprentice is sometimes called the Acolyte.

Few details have been released about the series other than it’s coming from Russian Doll creator Leslye Headland and will be a “mystery-thriller.” And recently, reports have popped up that Disney is eyeing Amandla Stenberg for the lead role. Stenberg, who identifies as non-binary, is best known for playing Rue in the first Hunger Games movie and recently appeared in The Hate U Give and Dear Evan Hansen.

So far, we know The Acolyte is set about 50 years before the events of The Phantom Menace –the end of the High Republic period that was a golden age for the Jedi Order and the Republic government. Fans the Star Wars Legends books know that this was roughly around the same time that Darth Plagueis and Palpatine were making waves.

But it’s unlikely The Acolyte will chronicle Palpatine’s life or relationship with his Sith master Darth Plagueis, as the show will be “female-led.” But based on the title, we can probably assume the series will heavily focus on a Sith apprentice’s brutal training in the dark side.

There is no release date yet for The Acolyte, and we probably will see several other Star Wars shows before it, like The Book of Boba Bett and The Mandalorian season 3. And speaking of that…