Star Wars: The Acolyte Rumor Could Spoil Debut of Surprising Character

The Acolyte may feature the live-action debut of one of Star Wars’ most fabled characters. According to new rumors swirling online, the upcoming Disney+ series may feature Darth Plageuis the Wise, the Sith Master who eventually took on Darth Sidious as his Sith Lord.

The rumor comes from Redditor u/Aesokas (via Bespin Bulletin), an account growing in popularity on the Star Wars Leaks subreddit. While the Redditor is unable to confirm the exact role of Darth Plageuis, it’s said the Sith is involved in some shape, way, or form. Given that The Acolyte is set in Lucasfilm’s new High Republic era, it takes place approximately 100 years prior to the events of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.

To date, Plageuis has only been name-dropped by Sidious (Ian McDiarmid) in addition to his heftier roles in the outfit’s Legends continuity. If the Sith Master were to appear in The Acolyte, it wouldn’t only be his first major appearance in live-action, but the primary Star Wars continuity as well.

The series is being helmed by Leslye Headland, a self-professed nerd of the entire Star Wars mythos—including its former Expanded Universe offerings.

“She is a gigantic Star Wars fan,” Kathleen Kennedy previously shared of the writer. “What’s wonderful about Leslye is she knows it all. I mean, she’s read a gazillion books inside the E.U. There are little bits and pieces that she’s drawing from that no one has explored yet in the onscreen storytelling.”

“The truth is that I, as a major mega fan, came to them with this idea. And I said, ‘I think the best place to put this is in an era you guys have not quite explored yet,’” Headland concluded. “They were very enthusiastic. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to explore that [existing] world, but I think that they already were because The Mandalorian and a lot of the other television projects were really relying on legacy characters.”

Stay tuned for details on Star Wars: The Acolyte.