Star Wars’ New TV Show Looks Like Everything I Wanted From George Lucas’ Prequels

Star Wars’ next Disney+ TV show, Star Wars: The Acolyte, officially releases with a two-episode premiere on June 4, 2024, and it’s already positioned to enhance the prequel trilogy. The Acolyte takes place in the Star Wars High Republic Era, likely introducing the path that led to the Jedi Order’s inevitable downfall in the prequels. In so doing, The Acolyte may just uncover exactly where it all went wrong, highlighting the compromises the Jedi made to their own ideologies to overcome the rising evil.

The Acolyte is one of the most anticipated upcoming Star Wars TV shows, and while the details of The Acolyte are somewhat under wraps, The Acolyte’s full trailer breakdown shows considerable promise. In many ways, it depicts themes similar to those of the prequel trilogy. However, The Acolyte already seems to have a leg up on the prequels in myriad ways, suggesting that it may be just what audiences were looking for.

The Acolyte Is Telling A Similar Story To (& Setting Up) The Prequels

The Acolyte isn’t so much in competition with the Star Wars prequel trilogy as it is laying the foundation for what follows in the movies. However, the two have parallels that make comparisons inevitable. Like the prequel trilogy, The Acolyte will offer more insight into the history of the Jedi, including their mounting flaws and cracks in the system. The Acolyte is likely to show the beginning of the end for the Jedi Order, with the tag of the show, “In an age of light, a darkness rises,” reflecting that the time of peace is over.

In contrast, the prequel movies show the end of the end, lining them up along the same continuum. Even so, it’s clear that The Acolyte will be exploring deeper, if not better, the concepts that George Lucas set out to uncover in the Star Wars prequels. Namely, The Acolyte will clearly be depicting how the Sith rose again, why the Jedi were so susceptible to such a rise, and what took them so far away from the ideals of compassion and peace they were meant to uphold.

The Acolyte Already Looks Better Than The Star Wars Prequels

There’s plenty to love about the Star Wars prequel trilogy, nostalgia aside, and they received unnecessary hate when they were released. Having said that, some criticism of the movies is fair. While additional material, such as novelizations of the movies and shows like Star Wars: The Clone Wars, have continued to flesh out the prequel trilogy, making it a more complete, comprehensible story, there are gaps when looking at the movies alone.

Many argue that Anakin’s fall is too fast. Despite the three-movie arc and moments of evil, such as Anakin’s massacre of the Tuskens, he was still conflicted and even leaning toward the Jedi’s side when he found Mace Windu about to assassinate Palpatine. However, just a few moments later, he accepted his role as a Sith apprentice and was fine with wiping out innumerable Jedi, including children. The prequels had other issues too, most notoriously some of the dialogue.

The Acolyte has revealed little so far, but the trailer suggests that the show will be different in its thoroughly crafted story, beautiful visuals, and focus on the nature of the Jedi. Although scenes in the prequel trilogy depict younglings learning under Master Yoda, for example, The Acolyte trailer shows them deeply meditating, which excitingly suggests the show may offer a closer look at the way of the Jedi. Moreover, the action sequences, sheer number of lightsabers, and stylization all point to an exciting narrative.

The Acolyte Will Make The Star Wars Prequels Better

While the Jedi Order, particularly the Council, did plenty wrong, The Acolyte can absolve them of some of their sins. In part, this will happen naturally. Certain Jedi are old enough that they will also have been present during the time of The Acolyte, Yoda most notably, but many Jedi shown in the prequel trilogy inherited these problems. That the Jedi were blind to the rising Sith threat, rigid in their rules, and lacking empathy and compassion in many situations, had to have been symptoms of systemic problems.

In that sense, The Acolyte will improve the prequels by showing the Jedi in a kinder light. This will also bleed into the representation of Anakin. It’s easy to read Anakin as one major problem in an otherwise ‘good’ Order, but in reality, it isn’t that simple. Many people within the Jedi Order let Anakin down, and while his actions were wrong, his struggles, like the Jedi Council’s in the prequel movies, were not entirely his own.

Particularly because The Acolyte will, in part, set up and lead into the prequel trilogy era, it will no doubt further flesh out those stories and the context for the time, inevitably improving them. This is exciting in and of itself, but it also feels right, given that it will be building on a longstanding Star Wars tradition. In fact, the prequels themselves served to make better sense of the original trilogy, as have newer TV shows such as Star Wars Rebels and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Star Wars: The Acolyte will keep this tradition alive by making the prequels even better.

Star Wars: The Acolyte starts streaming June 4th on Disney+.

All Star Wars TV shows & movies are available to stream on Disney