Star Wars fans confused by big name actor’s death “five minutes” into ‘The Acolyte’

The Acolyte” is pushing back against those who say that her show is “woke” propaganda featuring “lesbian space witches,” slamming the criticism as “reductive.”Leslye Headland, the “first openly queer person to create” a major Star Wars project as The Hollywood Reporter (THR) described her, spoke to the outlet this week about the backlash the show has gotten for its progressive themes, telling the outlet that she never intended to make a show with an overt political agenda, even if it contains some LGBTQ messaging.“I don’t believe that I’ve created queer, with a capital Q, content,” Headland told the entertainment outlet.“Star Wars: The Acolyte” has proven to be one of the most divisive entries in the Star Wars franchise since its debut on Disney’s streaming platform earlier this month. Despite being a hit with critics – it currently features an 85% Rotten Tomatoes rating among professional movie reviewers – it has a 14% audience score, the lowest rating in that category among all Star Wars content.The Disney-owned film franchise has been criticized by fans in recent years who claim the company has embraced “woke” storylines and characters, with fans slamming “The Acolyte” as the most progressive one yet.The show’s LGBTQ reputation has preceded itself, generating a now-viral moment where a journalist from The Wrap told Headland and non-binary series star Amandla Stenberg during an interview that the show is “arguably the gayest Star Wars by a considerable margin.”Though she and the actor were amused by the question, Headland suggested it wasn’t something she was aiming for.

The Acolyte star Amandla Stenberg has written and released a song in response to a racist backlash against the Star Wars prequel show.The show is set 100 years before Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, and the first four episodes are streaming now on Disney+.It was created by Russian Doll’s Leslye Headland and stars Stenberg (The Hate U Give, Bodies Bodies Bodies) in the twin lead roles of Osha and Mae.

Beetlejuice 2” is one of this year’s most awaited films. Starring franchise vets Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, and Catherine O’Hara and welcoming newcomers Jenna Ortega and Justin Theroux, the project is an exciting one for many reasons. Despite the fact that various trailers have been released and that the overall plot has been teased, one scene in particular remains unexplained.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor At the Monte-Carlo TV Festival Saturday, Lee Jung-Jae, one of the stars of new Disney+ series “Star Wars: The Acolyte,” spoke with Variety about how he prepared for his role as Jedi Master Sol, the strengths of Leslye Headland, the show’s creator, as a showrunner, and the relationship between Sol and Amandla Stenberg’s characters.Lee, who won a Primetime Emmy for “Squid Game,” says that for 50% of “The Acolyte” role he drew inspiration from previous depictions of the Jedi Masters, and “for the remaining 50% I tried to find something that was appropriate to Sol – something that would only incarnate him.” He also consulted with an expert in “Star Wars” lore at Lucasfilm.In “The Acolyte,” the Jedi Masters are shown to be flawed. How does the show present this? “In ‘The Acolyte,’ what it tries to say is that anyone can make mistakes, but you have to accept the mistakes that you make, and put effort into correcting them or developing yourself, because any human being has some unstable thinking,” Lee says.

Rosario Dawson, Hayden Christensen, and Lucasfilm Creative Chief Dave Filoni were on the Happy Sad Confused podcast to discuss the “Star Wars” series “Ahsoka” this week (read our review). And while all eyes are on season two of “Ahsoka,” which Filoni says he’s writing, so it’s presumably on the way at some point, many fans are wondering what’s going on with the feature-length film.

As we know from yesterday’s excerpt from an upcoming episode of The Playlist’s The Discourse podcast featuring Jude Law promoting his forthcoming film period drama “Firebrand” opposite Alicia Vikander (read our review), the actor basically turned down an early version of “Superman” when Brett Ratner was attached to direct. For years, Law seemed to avoid most franchises.

Naman Ramachandran London and New York-based film sales agency The Mise En Scene Company (MSC) has diversified, securing world rights to scripted series “Driven.” The show stars Rebecca Henderson, known for her roles in “Star Wars: The Acolyte” (Disney) and “Russian Doll” (Netflix), and Liza Colón-Zayas from “The Bear” (FX). Produced by O Positive Films in New York and created by David Shane, represented by 3 Arts Entertainment, “Driven” centers on Theodora “Teddy” Fischer (Henderson), an Uber driver and struggling post-post-modern novelist. Teddy’s life hits rock bottom after getting fired from an animated children’s show for a controversial episode and dealing with her wife’s departure.

“The Sunday Times,” Dunne wrote, “First of all, let me cut to the chase and say that Carrie never became my girlfriend. She knew, long before I did, that being lovers would diminish our possibilities.

Alison Herman TV Critic As a writer for “Saturday Night Live” from 2016 to 2019, Julio Torres was able to create immersive worlds — the existential melancholy of a sink; the font obsession of an “Avatar” super fan — in just a few minutes’ worth of sketch. Over time, the comedian has only acquired more space and resources to realize his singular vision.

Fans are NOT impressed with Tarek El Moussa’s latest social media skit.

The Acolyte is off to a promising start on Disney+.

The first two episodes of The Acolyte are out now on Disney+!

Star Wars universe is continuing to expand. When “The Acolyte” premieres tonight on Disney+, June 4, the High Republic Era will make its way into live-action canon after years of canonical comics and novels. In “The Acolyte,” an investigation into a spree of murders pits a Jedi Master and his former Padawan against forces of evil long thought to be extinct within the galaxy.

No amount of rewatching, revisionism, and distance makes the leaden “Star Wars” prequels good, sorry (lord knows I’ve tried). But teeming with terrifically substantive ideas, just not convincing in the execution of any of them, the most juicy and complex legacy that George Lucas ever left “Star Wars” with—something the franchise always seems to flirt with and yet never fully embrace—is the notion of failure, and the Jedi Order as a deeply flawed and ultimately ruinous organization.

Star Wars suffer more harassment “because of the fan base being so male dominated”.The franchise has long fielded misogynistic and racist comments from online trolls, with both Daisy Ridley and Kelly Marie Tran previously leaving social media as a result of the abuse.Now, ahead of the release of the new Disney+ Star Wars series The Acolyte, the same issue has repeated itself, with some fans referring to the show as “The Wokelyte” due its diverse cast.Created by Leslye Headland, The Acolyte is set long before the events of The Phantom Menace (1999) and charts the emergence of the Dark Side during the High Republic era.“Operating within these giant franchises now, with social media and the level of expectation — it’s terrifying,” Kennedy said, in a new interview with The New York Times.“I think Leslye has struggled a little bit with it. I think a lot of the women who step into Star Wars struggle with this a bit more.

Lucasfilm CEO Kathleen Kennedy has heard the noise from some Star Wars fans unhappy with the franchise’s direction.

Carrie Fisher got back on drugs to slim down for the Star Wars sequels… At least that’s what her pal James Blunt says.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Musician James Blunt recently said at the Hay Festival in Wales (via People) that his close friend Carrie Fisher faced tremendous pressure to be thin for “Star Wars” when she reprised her iconic role of Princess Leia in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” Fisher previously told Good Housekeeping U.K. in 2015 shortly before “The Force Awakens” opened in theaters that she lost 35 pounds for the movie.

Earlier today, we shared a news item about Rahul Kohli being a bit heartbroken that he didn’t land a role in Marvel Studios’ “The Fantastic Four.” Now, here’s a story about another actor, Glen Powell, who is finally able to joke about the fact that he “blew” the final audition for a major “Star Wars” role.

James Blunt has blamed the pressure of the Star Wars workload for Carrie Fisher’s drugs relapse.The Princess Leia actor died in 2016 after suffering a cardiac arrest on board a flight from London to Los Angeles. She was 60 years old.The coroner’s report later confirmed that cocaine plus “traces” of heroin and MDMA (also known as ecstasy) had been found in her system.