Amandla Stenberg is bringing their talents to the Star Wars universe.
Deadline reports that Stenberg will be taking the lead role in The Acolyte, a mystery-thriller series set in the Star Wars universe that explores "a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark-side powers in the final days of the High Republic." The show is being executive produced, written, and directed by lesbian Russian Doll co-creator Leslye Headland.
While there have been no details released about Stenberg's character or the plot, the title of the show hints at someone learning to master their force abilities from a Sith Lord. Could Stenberg by this young acolyte learning the ways of the Dark Side from a Sith Lord? We'll have to tune in to find out.
Back in July,Out100 honoree Headland, who is the first queer person to be a showrunner for a Star Wars title, told The Advocate that the series will have a distinctly queer lense. "There's just no way that me being a queer woman is not going to be reflected in my work," she said, adding that she also knows the importance of actual on-screen representation in the Star Wars universe.
"I think that you can expect some sort of combination of both. You can expect some sort of expression of my own artistic dream and just my voice and what it looks like in that universe, for sure," she said, "But I also think that representation both on screen and behind the screen, it's just so important."
With Headland and Stenberg, we've got the representation behind the screen, and now we're hoping Stenberg's character will be part of that on-screen representation Headland talked about. This is really looking like it could be the queer Star Wars representation fans have been waiting for!
Stenberg, who is queer and nonbinary, had a breakout role in The Hunger Games. They've more recently starred in The Hate U Give, where she got critical acclaim for her lead role, and appeared in this year's Dear Evan Hansen.
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