MOVIE NEWS – Star Wars: The Acolyte showrunner Leslye Headland has taken inspiration for a character from one of the most shared posts in the franchise.

It seems that Star Wars: The Acolyte has some of the greatest potential for fresh, new storytelling of any Star Wars media product. But interestingly, showrunner Leslye Headland has drawn inspiration for one aspect of the new series from a surprising place.

Among the many new characters appearing in Star Wars: The Acolyte is one who may seem unfamiliar to many fans.

He’s the as-yet-unnamed Wookiee Jedi, who has been seen in several leaked set photos. The Wookiee, named Kelnacca, is just one of the many Force-wielders who will be featured in this Star Wars series focusing on the Sith and Jedi. Others may catch viewers’ attention because of the big names playing them, including stars like Dafne Keen and Manny Jacinto. But many may have missed the fact that a returning actor will play the fluffy new friend.

Joonas Suotamo appeared as the beloved Wookiee Chewbacca in 2018’s Solo: A Star Wars Story. While the film didn’t do too well, his performance managed to get Headland’s attention – it gave her the idea. “It honestly started with Joonas,” Headland revealed in an interview on EW’s Dagobah Dispatch podcast (via Star Wars News Network).

“We thought it’d be cool to do a Wookiee, obviously they have a Wookiee Jedi in the High Republic, and we thought it’d be cool to have our own version of that and have a very different character design.”

It wasn’t just Han Solo’s buddy Chewbacca that gave him the idea to include a Wookiee Jedi in the film. Joonas himself also came to the fore as part of the inspiration. “But honestly, I really loved [Solo: A Star Wars Story] and I loved Joonas’ performance in it,” Headland continued. “So I was watching it and I was like, ‘Gosh, it’d be really cool to see him be a Jedi, and actually do some action work and some fighting, and to do not just the sidekick role.’ And it kind of started there, and I didn’t think they would let me do it. And I just kept pitching and pitching. And [special effects artist] Neil Scanlan really loved the idea. I especially loved the idea of having a Wookiee with the side of his head shaved.”

The Acolyte will be a much less black-and-white approach to the morality and the Force of Star Wars. Headland has already drawn similarities between The Acolyte and The Last Jedi. The series stars Amandla Stenberg as a former Jedi padawan who reunites with her master to investigate a dark threat roughly a hundred years before the time of The Phantom Menace…

Source: Star Wars News Net