At Denver Fan Expo, The Acolyte star Manny Jacinto revealed that one particularly intense moment showcasing his character’s viciousness didn’t make the final cut.
Jacinto played Qimir, a seemingly chill, wine-sipping rogue who’s ultimately revealed to be a deadly Sith assassin known as The Stranger. While he already gets his hands bloody in Episode 5, there was originally a scene that pushed his brutality even further. Jacinto said, via Screen Rant:
“Star Wars has always been PG, but you want to find some brutal aspects of these fights… There was one moment, I think, where I just take one Jedi and keep slamming his head on to a rock, because we wanted to show how brutal this guy could be, without any remorse,”
That’s a level of violence we’ve rarely see in Star Wars. The moment likely would’ve been part of the episode where he cuts down a squad of Jedi who corner him in the jungle. Even without the extra head-smashing, that lightsaber brawl was already one of the most vicious in the frnachise.
While The Acolyte drew plenty of conversation online, it ultimately struggled with viewership, despite being Disney+’s second most-watched series of the year. The show was canceled after just one season, which pissed a lot of fans off.
The cast included Amandla Stenberg in a dual role as Osha and Mae, Dafne Keen as Padawan Jecki, Charlie Barnett as Jedi Yord, Carrie-Anne Moss as Master Indara, and Lee Jung-jae as Master Sol. Rebecca Henderson and Jodie Turner-Smith also played key roles, with Leslye Headland (Russian Doll) creating the series.
According to cinematographer Chris Teague, the team stayed grounded in Lucas’s vision during production: “Leslye would always say, ‘What would George do? What would George think?’ And that was our guiding principle.”
As for what’s next in the galaxy far, far away, The Mandalorian & Grogu is heading to theaters next May, and Ahsoka Season 2 is also expected to drop sometime in 2026.