The Acolyte’s Manny Jacinto Reveals Inspirations for Darth Vader and Kylo Ren, ‘Fingers Crossed’ for Season 2 | D23 2024

Star Wars: The Acolyte season 1 has come to an end, so The Stranger/Qimir actor Manny Jacinto stopped by D23 2024 to talk about what inspired his character and how the story of the Disney+ prequel series might continue.

Jacinto shared in-depth details about his role during a panel at this year’s Disney fan event. Listening to classic John Williams tunes and Foo Fighters, he prepared for his role as the mysterious, red lightsaber-wielding figure of The Acolyte. However, it was iconic Force users like Darth Vader and Kylo Ren who most inspired his dark side. When it came to the way his character moved, Jacinto looked to Ray Park’s Darth Maul.

“You can’t help but look back at iconic characters like Darth Vader and Kylo Ren,” Jacinto said. “You have that mask as a starting point, but we definitely wanted it to have a purpose. The biggest purpose was to hide his identity, so we had that starting point, but we also wanted to make him different. We wanted him to move differently, we wanted him to fight differently.”

The Acolyte Season 1 began its Disney+ run in June and concluded in July, telling a story that explores largely unexplored territory of the dark side. While many weren’t entirely sure what to make of the show, others who enjoyed its new take on the Star Wars universe were left wondering if it would return for Season 2. Jacinto has has teased what he wants to see from another series of episodes in the pastbut for now he has nothing to report.

“I don’t know how we survived, but we did it,” Jacinto said of his co-star, Amandla Stenberg. “We did it together. Amandla is a professional – she’s so smart. I sound so stupid standing next to her, because she’s wiser than her years. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we get to do it again.”

During the panel, Disney revealed some shots of concept art for The Stranger/Qimir. We’ve gathered some of the images shown and you can check them out below.

The Acolyte D23 2024 Panel Concept Art | D23 2024