IDW's Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures comics have established Yoda's place in The High Republic era, leading to hopes among fans that the iconic Jedi Master might appear in The Acolyte.
A Yoda cameo would make sense considering how high the stakes in the series are expected to be. However, comments from showrunner Leslye Headland suggest we should temper expectations about him or any other well-known Star Wars characters making an appearance.
"Can you imagine? Can you imagine if they were like, 'No problem. You can use Yoda. Not a big deal. Go for it.' No, there is not [a Yoda cameo]," she confirmed. "We are pulling characters from the High Republic, and characters from [EU [Expanded Universe]. That's it."
The mention of the Expanded Universe is bound to draw some interest, particularly if it means Lucasfilm plans to address the lineage of Sith Masters who eventually led to Emperor Palpatine. It's also not outside the realm of possibility that there was an offshoot of those Dark Side users which is unrelated to the Skywalker Saga.
Ultimately, it seems part of the appeal for Headland was telling a story in an era not filled with familiar faces from the wider Star Wars franchise.
"There were two reasons I wanted to set it in that particular time period and that far away from the prequels," she previously said. "One, I didn't want to mess with any canon. The other thing that I loved about this period was the lack of legacy characters."
"I was too nervous to take them on, but also, I feel like we've seen a lot of that. [The High Republic] felt like a sandbox that I could easily jump into," Headland concluded.
You can watch a new featurette for The Acolyte in the X post below.
In The Acolyte, an investigation into a shocking crime spree pits a respected Jedi Master (Lee Jung-jae) against a dangerous warrior from his past (Amandla Stenberg). As more clues emerge, they travel down a dark path where sinister forces reveal all is not what it seems...
The series stars Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Jodie Turner-Smith, Rebecca Henderson, Dean-Charles Chapman, Joonas Suotamo, and Carrie-Anne Moss.
The next Star Wars TV series comes from creator and showrunner Leslye Headland (Russian Doll), who also serves as executive producer alongside Kathleen Kennedy, Simon Emanuel, Jeff F. King, and Jason Micallef. Charmaine DeGraté and Kor Adana are the co-executive producers, and Rayne Roberts and Damian Anderson are producing.
The Acolyte will premiere on Disney+ on June 4.