First trailer for "The Acolyte," a new take on Star Wars

First trailer for "The Acolyte," a new take on Star Wars

Yesterday (March 18) the first trailer for "The Acolyte" was released after the announcement that "Star Wars" will debut on Disney Plus on June 4. After watching this trailer, you may have a variety of reactions, but I had one distinct reaction.

This is a breath of fresh air in the "Star Wars" galaxy.

Is this show perfect? Probably not. Shows are rarely perfect to begin with, but after watching the trailer, it's probably not the dialogue that grabbed you.

The fight scenes? I'm not expecting John Wick-level choreography, and not after seeing the first trailer. Sure there are a lot of lightsabers flying around, but that's to be expected in a show about Jedi.

No, what caught my attention was simple: no Skywalkers. Not one.

Yes, there is. The Acolyte has absolutely no connection to the Skywalker saga. At least no direct connection. The events in this show may have some connection to the eventual destruction of the Galactic Republic, but the point of this show is not to set up a story about the Emperor or the Chosen One. There are no clones in the show, which is a relief, to say the least. [Instead, the story will be set during the time of the Great Republic. This part of Star Wars takes place about 100 years before Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. And while there are certainly plenty of stories about someone killing Jedi and Jedi Masters with a sense of darkness (and yet they apparently don't feel a "disturbance in the Force"), there will be no sudden revelation at the end of this story that someone is secretly Palpatine or Skywalker!

And to me, that is the most important thing this show can do. Yes, I would love to see this show become a good show in its own right, exploring a corner of an as yet unexplored era in a galaxy far, far away in the distant past. But honestly, with "The Acolyte" I want Disney to show that you don't need Skywalker to be interested in "Star Wars." To that end, this first trailer certainly seems to do a good job.

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