The Acolyte showrunner hints at a return to extended universe canon that Star Wars retconned out of existence 10 years ago

Leslye Headland says she infused Star Wars Legends into the upcoming series

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The Acolyte showrunner Leslye Headland infused her love for Star Wars Legends, the Expanded Universe that is no longer canon, into the upcoming series.

“There were certain things that I really wanted to do. You’ll see a half Theelin, half human Jedi, Jecki, played by Dafne Keen, which was always a dream of mine,” Headland said in an interview withStarWars.com. “There’s also some EU lore that I decided to put in because I thought it was so cool and no one told me I couldn’t. [The series will introduce] a Zygerrian Jedi and canonize one species that’s yet to be seen. There are a couple of really big EU ideas that are utilized both early on in the series and later in the series.”

In 2014, the Expanded Universe was renamed Star Wars Legends and was no longer considered canon to the Star Wars franchise. Retcons, in general, allow contradictions in the timeline to be explained/corrected.Lucasfilm’s Leeland Chee said (viaGizmodo) the death of Chewbacca in Vector Prime influenced the decision to rebrand Expanded Universe as non-canon: “He was a challenging character to write for in novels. Publishing had decided they needed to kill somebody, and it was Chewbacca. But if you have the opportunity to bring back Chewbacca into a live action film, you’re not gonna deprive fans that.”

Set at the end of the High Republic, approximately 100 years before Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, The Acolyte sees a former Padawan renuite with her Jedi Master to investigate a series of crimes – but the forces they confront are more sinister than they could ever imagine. The cast includes Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Carrie-Annie Moss, Dafne Keen, Amandla Stenberg, and Jodi Turner-Smith. You can watchThe Acolyte trailerhere.

Star Wars: The Acolyte is set to hitDisneyPlus on June 4 in the US, arriving on June 5 in the UK. For more from a galaxy far, far away, check out our guide to all thenew Star Wars movieson the way and our breakdown of theStar Wars timeline.

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Lauren Milici is a Senior Entertainment Writer for GamesRadar+ currently based in the Midwest. She previously reported on breaking news for The Independent’s Indy100 and created TV and film listicles for Ranker. Her work has been published in Fandom, Nerdist, Paste Magazine, Vulture, PopSugar, Fangoria, and more.

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