Lucasfilm’s upcoming Star Wars collection The Acolyte goes to introduce followers to a brand new Wookiee character Kelnacca. What makes this Wookiee so fascinating and completely different from every other that we’ve seen in the live-action franchise is that he’s a lightsaber-wielding Jedi!
Kelnacca is performed by Joonas Suotamo in the collection. He is the actor who performed Chewbacca in the sequel trilogy as was as Solo. He explains in an interview with Empire, that taking part in this character was “another Star Wars dream come true.”
He stated: “Ever since [I was] five years old, I’ve been fantasizing about being a Jedi, like every kid. When the word ‘Jedi’ was first mentioned [in talks for The Acolyte], I felt really excited – like a little kid who finally gets his favorite toy on his birthday.”
Suotamo went on to supply some perception on taking part in this character saying: “Peter told me right from the get-go that Chewbacca is a mime character. The audience doesn’t understand what he’s saying exactly, but they [interpret] his mannerisms, and every little twitch, and every little movement, and roar.”
He continued: “Kelnacca being a Jedi, that sets certain expectations to how you carry yourself in the line of duty, There are certain assumptions that can be made as to whether he lets his emotions take control of him to the extent that Chewbacca would, for example. It was very interesting to bake that into the character and try to personify that on screen.”
Kelnacca isn’t the first Wookiee Jedi in the Star Wars franchise. The Clone Wars Youngling arc launched us to Jedi Gungi and the High Republic period of novels and comics featured Force-wielding Wookiee Padawan Burryaga on the web page.
When speaking about this character from the books, Suotamo stated: “I was aware of the character, and I talked to the High Republic writers at a convention. I also wanted to differentiate Kelnacca from Burryaga, and not copy too much from those stories.”
In the collection, Amandla Steinberg is a former Padawan and harmful warrior who’s searching down and killing Jedi.
The story is described as “a mystery-thriller that will take viewers into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark-side powers in the final days of the High Republic era.” The High Republic is about 100 years earlier than the Skywalker Saga begins.
In The Acolyte, “An investigation right into a stunning crime spree pits a revered Jedi Master (Lee Jung-jae) in opposition to a harmful warrior from his previous (Stenberg). As extra clues emerge, they journey down a darkish path the place sinister forces reveal all is just not what it appears….”
The series also stars Squid Game’s Lee Jung-jae stars as the Jedi Master, Manny Jacinto, Jodie Turner-Smith, Rebecca Henderson, Charlie Barnett, Dean-Charles Chapman, Carrie-Anne Moss, Margarita Levieva, Joonas Suotamo, and Amy Tsang.
The Acolyte could have eight episodes in whole, with Headland, Garcia Lopez, and Kogonada directing episodes of the collection. It’s set to premiere on June 4, 2024, on Disney+.
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