The Acolyte showrunner Leslye Headland infused her love for Star Wars Legends, the Expanded Universe that is no longer canon, into the upcoming series.
"There were certain things that I really wanted to do. You'll see a half Theelin, half human Jedi, Jecki, played by Dafne Keen, which was always a dream of mine," Headland said in an interview with StarWars.com. "There's also some EU lore that I decided to put in because I thought it was so cool and no one told me I couldn't. [The series will introduce] a Zygerrian Jedi and canonize one species that’s yet to be seen. There are a couple of really big EU ideas that are utilized both early on in the series and later in the series."
In 2014, the Expanded Universe was renamed Star Wars Legends and was no longer considered canon to the Star Wars franchise. Retcons, in general, allow contradictions in the timeline to be explained/corrected. Lucasfilm's Leeland Chee said (via Gizmodo) the death of Chewbacca in Vector Prime influenced the decision to rebrand Expanded Universe as non-canon: "He was a challenging character to write for in novels. Publishing had decided they needed to kill somebody, and it was Chewbacca. But if you have the opportunity to bring back Chewbacca into a live action film, you’re not gonna deprive fans that."
Set at the end of the High Republic, approximately 100 years before Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, The Acolyte sees a former Padawan renuite with her Jedi Master to investigate a series of crimes – but the forces they confront are more sinister than they could ever imagine. The cast includes Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Carrie-Annie Moss, Dafne Keen, Amandla Stenberg, and Jodi Turner-Smith. You can watch The Acolyte trailer here.
Star Wars: The Acolyte is set to hit Disney Plus on June 4 in the US, arriving on June 5 in the UK. For more from a galaxy far, far away, check out our guide to all the new Star Wars movies on the way and our breakdown of the Star Wars timeline.
