Dave Filoni currently serves as the Chief Creative Officer at Lucasfilm and is responsible for several of the movies and shows the studio produces in the Star Wars franchise. In recent years, the franchise has looked to move beyond the Skywalker saga, introducing several new characters and stories in a bid to diversify the galaxy far, far away.
During an interview, Filoni addressed the studio’s experiments with diverse stories from different corners of the galaxy. At the same time, Filoni name-dropped multiple shows from the franchise which have proven to be a hit or a miss with the fanbase. However, with The Acolyte proving to be the saga’s biggest misfire in recent times, fans must be curious to learn if Filoni spoke about it as a part of the studio’s diversification plans.
Dave Filoni Did Not Name-drop The Acolyte While Taling About Star Wars Experiments
Dave Filoni has worked on several Star Wars projects, including The Clone Wars animated series. He is the current CCO of Lucasfilm and is involved in most of its upcoming Star Wars projects, especially on the streaming side of the galaxy far, far away.
During a 2022 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Filoni spoke about the studio’s desire to diversify its content, revealing that he was personally impressed with all the new characters and stories the Star Wars universe could delve into following the advent of streaming.
From the new show, we’re doing with Jon Watts, Skeleton Crew. When you look at Andor and you look at Obi-Wan [Kenobi], you look at [The Mandalorian], you look at [The Book of Boba Fett]. They all do have a different feeling, a different tone.
Filoni made the above statement, explaining that it was exciting to see these different stories branch out of the mainline Star Wars films. He added:
I think that’s remarkable, and really speaks to the serialized nature of Star Wars, and how it can be a very flexible galaxy.
From Filoni’s words, it is evident that he considered these five shows the torch-bearers of change in the galaxy far, far away.
The franchise needed to branch out beyond the Skywalker saga, especially after the mixed critical and fan reception of the sequel trilogy. As a result, Filoni’s excitement over the variety of Star Wars shows is understandable. However, Filoni did not name-drop The Acolyte during this interview, despite the series being in development around the same time as some of these other shows.
Dave Filoni Was Involved With the Creative Process of The Acolyte
Although Filoni’s comments in the above interview suggest that The Acolyte wasn’t important when it came to the studio’s plans to expand the franchise, it was arguably the most unique since it was the first entry to take place during the High Republic era.
Moreover, Filoni was involved with the creative process of The Acolyte, created by Leslye Headland, who also served as head writer and showrunner. According to reports, while Filoni wasn’t involved with the show’s actual writing, he provided notes on all scripts and was ultimately responsible for approving them.
Furthermore, Headland herself revealed taking advice from Filoni while working on the Star Wars series. Hence, it is surprising that Filoni did not mention the series when discussing the diversification of the Star Wars franchise. Nonetheless, the series became the biggest disaster in the long-running franchise and was canceled after just one critically panned season.
The Star Wars movies and shows are streaming on Disney+.
