The Acolyte Showrunner Teases "Four to Five" Major Mysteries for Possible Season 2

Leslye Headland previews the future of her Star Wars story.

Thus far, Star Wars: The Acolyte has been a unique, no-holds-barred take on the Star Wars universe, weaving together a High Republic era story that has kept fans guessing. Amid the show's successful streaming numbers and critical response, the question has remained of whether or not The Acolyte could continue into a second season — and apparently, it's not out of the realm of possibility. In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, The Acolyte creator Leslye Headland revealed that she prioritized telling a complete story across Season 1, while leaving room for characters to grow in potential future seasons.

"I remember reading that Vince Gilligan in writing and doing the first season of Breaking Bad really didn't plan on, 'We're getting seven more seasons, and this is what's going to happen to Walter White.' It was much more, 'Here's everything we got. We're throwing everything at the wall.' And then with the pickup, he mapped out, 'Okay, here's what's going to happen over the course of however many seasons,'" Headlan explained. "So I took that approach with this. I threw everything into season 1, because who knows what's going to happen? And then I'd say there are four to five major mysteries and plot points that have to get hit in season 2, but until we get a proper pickup, I worry that spending a lot of time in that world — especially being in a period where I've worked so long on this project that honestly I'm exhausted by it coming out — to kind of jump right into like, "All right, season 2…." It will probably be more that I know what needs to happen, and I know what the character development needs to be in order to hit the plot points and the character points for a second, third, or fourth season. So I look forward to working on that, but right now, I haven't."

"I'll tell you my philosophy on first seasons," Headland said elsewhere in the interview. "Something that I've noticed is first seasons will end on what should have been the break into act two. It feels like everyone's really expecting to get a second season, and I don't feel that's a good idea. I think you should put everything you can into the first season and give the audience a nice resolution that feels satisfying, but enough nods to mysteries that you would want to see a second season. So it's a little bit of both. You don't want to leave it so wrapped up that, like Obi-Wan or a standalone mini-series, that there's no reason to watch a second season, but I think there's enough stuff in the last few episodes that you would want to have answered."

What Is Star Wars: The Acolyte About?

Set during The High Republic, Star Wars: The Acolyte delivers an investigation into a mysterious string of crimes, which pits a Jedi master against his former apprentice in a race to uncover the truth. The more that the pair learn about the situation, the darker their journey becomes, as they confront things that darker than either of them could have imagined.

The series stars Amandla StenbergLee Jung-jaeManny JacintoDafne KeenCharlie BarnettJodie Turner-SmithRebecca HendersonDean-Charles ChapmanJoonas Suotamo, and Carrie-Anne MossStar Wars: The Acolyte premiered on Disney+ on June 4th.

New episodes of Star Wars: The Acolyte debut exclusively on Disney+ on Tuesdays at 6pm PST. If you haven't checked out Disney+ yet and you want to give it a go, you can do that here.

Note: This is not a sponsored post, but if you purchase one of the awesome products featured above, we may earn a small commission from the retailer. Thank you for your support.