New Star Wars: The Acolyte Promo Offers Best Look Yet at Mysterious Sith

Star Wars: The Acolyte is coming into its final PR push before the series premiere next week – and in the latest promo video, Lucasfilm is making it clear, in on uncertain terms, that The Acolyte will feature a major new Sith Lord villain! 

As you can see in the promo below, the latest footage from The Acolyte reveals main character Mae (Amandla Stenberg) meeting with a black-suited warrior carrying a red lightsaber. It seems pretty Sith-y…

The trailers and featurettes for The Acolyte have teased the presence of a new Sith threat – a resurgence that is a very murky and undefined part of the Star Wars Saga. We know that the Sith Resurgence culminating with the reign of Darth Sidious (Emperor Palpatine); however, the secret line of succession amongst the Sith leading to Sidious has never been fully explained. There’s a lot of speculation that The Acolyte will be the chapter of Star Wars that finally fills in that part of the story – at least in part. 

Who Is The Sith Lord in Star Wars: The Acolyte? 

The Acolyte showrunner Leslye Headland has previously teased how the show will explore who “The Acolyte” is, and their connection to the Jedi and Sith: 

“You will discover it when you’re watching the show. It will be revealed,” Headland told THR. “One thing to know about the show is that we’ve been talking about it as a mystery thriller. It is a serialized story, so each episode gives you more information about the story.” 

In fact, The Acolyte will take the infamous Anakin Skywalker quote from the  Star Wars Prequels (“From my point of view, the Jedi are evil!”) and turn it into a unique show format: 

“We were obviously influenced by samurai films and wuxia films, but also films like Rashomon, where you see one story and then you see it done a different way,” Headland previously revealed. “So, what separates [Star Wars: The Acolyte] from some of the other Star Wars series is that it’s told in that particular way.” 

Fans have their own theories about whether the show is about an actual Sith Lord in existence at the time of the High Republic, or someone who ultimately decides to become one. If it’s the former, there are theories that villains only referenced in the franchise (Darth Plagueis the Wise) could finally get a big debut, and that Star Wars’ High Republic and Skywalker Saga eras could get bridged in an exciting way. 

Star Wars: The Acolyte will premiere on Disney+ on June 4th.