The Acolyte gave the Expanded Universe some much-deserved recognition after George Lucas dismissed its lore.
George Lucas launched Star Wars, the epic space opera franchise with the 1977 original film, with several sequels, prequels, and spin-off media expanding the story. Aside from films, a major part of the franchise, especially in the era when Lucas wasn’t making new entries, was the media dubbed as the Expanded Universe.
Despite the Expanded Universe‘s popularity, Lucas himself did not consider these stories a true part of the canon. Nonetheless, Leslye Headland’s The Acolyte drew inspiration from the EU and canonized several aspects of it. As a result, it is safe to say that Headland’s series quietly gave the underrated EU the recognition it deserves.
George Lucas Didn’t Consider the Expanded Universe True Star Wars Lore
George Lucas directed 1977’s Star Wars (later retitled Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope). The film was followed up with two sequels, rounding off the original trilogy before Lucas returned to helm the prequel trilogy.
Lucas also crafted the Clone Wars animated series and eventually sold Lucasfilm to Disney, who produced the sequel trilogy. In the interim several spin-off media from novels to games, dubbed the Expanded Universe, kept the franchise going.
However, following Disney’s purchase of Lucasfilm, this content was declared non-canon and retitled Star Wars Legends. On the other hand, Lucas himself only saw this content as supplementary media, telling Starlog magazine the following:
I don’t read that stuff, I haven’t read any of the novels. I don’t know anything about that world. That’s a different world than my world.
Lucas made the above statement, firmly expressing that he saw his Star Wars stories as separate canon from the Expanded Universe lore.
Similarly, Dave Filoni, who worked with Lucas on the Clone Wars animated series and currently serves as the Chief Creative Officer of Lucasfilm also stated that Lucas only saw the films and the shows as true Star Wars lore, proving the EU was just supplementary media.
Leslye Headland’s The Acolyte Canonized Several Aspects of Star Wars Expanded Universe
Despite the non-canon status of the Expanded Universe / Legends stories, fans have enjoyed the novels and additional media set in the galaxy far, far away. As a result, fans have always felt the EU deserved more recognition and The Acolyte, created by Lesyle Headland did exactly that.
The series was heavily criticized for its storytelling and apparent lore-breaking. However, the concept of The Acolyte itself is based on an idea first introduced in the EU. Similarly, The Stranger’s fighting style was reminiscent of the Tràkata style, which has its roots in the EU.
Furthermore, the series brought Legends concepts such as Cortosis into live-action despite the metal being canonized in the comics. Lastly, the series also introduced Darth Plagueis into live-action. Although the character was name-dropped in Revenge of the Sith, his story was mainly told in the EU and The Acolyte will at least canonize some of it, should it receive a season 2.
The Acolyte is streaming on Disney+.