Star Wars: The Acolyte Will Reflect Showrunner's Own Queer Identity
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. From Loki'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 like Star Wars is next in line for that honor.
Leslye Headland, showrunner for the mysterious upcoming series Star 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 one writer who was largely unfamiliar with Star 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.
"In the same way that the original Star Wars film, 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 to George Lucas' own personal inspiration behind the creation of Star 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 Acolyte will be the first mainstream series that takes place in 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 of Star Wars with the mundane but no less interesting aspects of the real world.
Headland previously noted how her fascination with the Star Wars prequels was 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 Acolyte will fill in some gaps that many people didn't even realize were there.
Star Wars: The Acolyte is 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 is the life of a Star Wars fan, right?
Star Wars: The Acolyte will premiere on Disney Plus someday, eventually.
Source: The Advocate
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