It seems as though big film and TV projects these days have become vehicles for their showrunners, directors, and all-around bosses to tell stories that relate to their own personal experiences. FromLoki’s director proudly revealing the title character’s bisexuality to probably any number of other Disney properties, since there are more of them than Pokémon at this point, it’s becoming less of a surprise to see genuinely heartfelt tales being told by people who finally have an outlet for all those feelings of theirs. Now, it looks likeStar Warsis next in line for that honor.
Leslye Headland, showrunner for the mysterious upcoming seriesStar Wars: The Acolyte, says she fully intends to allow her own personal experiences as a queer woman shine through in the finished product. Considering how she specifically wanted at least onewriter who was largely unfamiliar withStar Wars, it seems pretty clear that she’s looking to tell the story from some very different perspectives than fans might be used to. But that doesn’t necessarily mean she isn’t using some recognizable inspirations.
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“In the same way that the originalStar Warsfilm,A New Hope, is about a young man living in Modesto, California, who doesn’t want to take over his dad’s hardware store,” Headland said to The Advocate, referring toGeorge Lucas' own personal inspirationbehind the creation ofStar Wars, “there’s just no way that me being a queer woman is not going to be reflected in my work.” She went on to explain how storytelling is often an extension of the storyteller, reflecting key aspects of that person’s life and identity in the narrative itself. So as a result, she believes her queerness will come through in the show, even if it happens to be on a subconscious level.
Star Wars: The Acolytewill be the first mainstream series that takes placein the newly established High Republic era, at least aside from books and comics. So while little is known about the story and characters, it’s still a relatively clean slate for Headland to lay this foundation for some brand new lore. What is known is that it will be a mystery-thriller set in the twilight of the High Republic era as the Dark Side of the Force begins to exert its influence on the galaxy. Headland says she’s excited to adapt the sort of “regular-day America” characters she’s used to into the upcoming female-centric take on this long-tenured franchise. It looks like she wants her personal experiences as a lesbian in the modern day help to merge the fantastical elements ofStar Warswith the mundane but no less interesting aspects of the real world.
Headland previously noted howher fascination with theStar Warsprequelswas one of her inspirations for this look at the old times of the galaxy far, far away. Even as poorly received those particular films were, they still introduced some intriguing new ideas to the series, and she was only too eager to explore how things had gotten to that point. If all goes according to plan,The Acolytewill fill in some gaps that many people didn’t even realize were there.
Star Wars: The Acolyteis still in pre-production, so there’s plenty of time for speculation to run rampant. But this slow drip of information might help things in the long run, since it will give audiences plenty of time to stew each bit of news around in their brains while ravenously waiting for more. Such isthe life of aStar Warsfan, right?
Star Wars: The Acolytewill premiere on Disney Plus someday, eventually.
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