“Something that was going to look very ghostly”: True Inspiration Behind The Acolyte Villain’s Costume is a Huge Nod to Two Iconic Star Wars Characters
The Acolyte is bringing Star Wars fans back to the High Republic era, and it is packed with all the mystery that the viewers expect from the galaxy far, far away. One of the most exciting parts of any new Star Wars story is the villains, and The Acolyte doesn’t disappoint with The Stranger.
A great villain needs a great look, and Star Wars has a history of having some of the most iconic villains in pop culture. Be it Darth Vader’s intimidating black armor or Darth Maul’s scary red and black face, the costume designers have always done their job pretty well and The Acolyte is no exception.
Darth Vader and Darth Maul’s Influence on The Stranger
Jennifer Bryan is the costume designer for The Acolyte and she had one of the most challenging tasks of creating a whole new set of costumes for this unexplored era in Star Wars history. But when it came to designing The Stranger’s outfit, she drew inspiration from some familiar faces.
Bryan needed to create costumes that felt both new and familiar to Star Wars fans. For The Stranger, she wanted something that would really make an impact. That’s when she turned to two of the most iconic Star Wars villains for inspiration: Darth Vader and Darth Maul.
In an interview with Star Wars media, Bryan explained how she came up with the costume idea for The Stranger. She said,
I brought in the element of Darth Vader meets Darth Maul. Manny is a very agile actor and it was a lot of movement and actions that he had to do the helmet for the stranger. It was a collaboration of a costume and a creature piece at the same time.
The first time we see him on camera, he’s mysterious. You don’t know what he is. So it was very interesting to do something that was going to look very ghostly and dark but had very specific design elements to it.
She took cues from Darth Vader’s intimidating silhouette and Darth Maul’s scary and creepy presence. The result was a costume that was both beautiful and scary. During an interview with Inverse, showrunner Leslye Headland also revealed that the armor-less kind of costume of The Stranger was also inspired by Elden Ring.
The original costumes for Darth Vader and Darth Maul were also groundbreaking in their time. Darth Vader’s suit was designed by Ralph McQuarrie and Brian Muir created the armor and the iconic helmet. Based on McQuarrie’s designs, John Mollo created the costume of the Sith lord.
On the other hand, Darth Maul’s look was created by Iain McCaig. These designs have become so iconic that they continue to inspire new generations of Star Wars villains.
How Did Manny Jacinto Bring The Stranger to Life?
While Jennifer Bryan was working on the costume, Manny Jacinto was preparing to bring The Stranger to life. The Good Place and Top Gun: Maverick fame had to put in some serious work to become this mysterious villain.
In an interview with Star Wars media, Jacinto talked about the physical demands of the role. The actor had to train his body to move in new ways. He worked with movement coaches and stunt coordinators to develop The Stranger’s unique fighting style. It wasn’t just about looking cool in the costume, Jacinto wanted to make sure he could really embody this character.
Jacinto took inspiration from Johnny Depp’s character Jack Sparrow and Toshiro Mifune’s Kikushiyo in Seven Samurai and combined them to play his character in The Acolyte. He really went into method acting, living his character in his daily life.
The actor had nothing but praise for Jennifer Bryan’s costume design. He said that putting on The Stranger’s outfit helped him get into character.
In terms of the costume itself, Jennifer Bryan created this beautiful silhouette for the Stranger. When it moved, it was very much just like water. It added to the mystery of the Stranger. You didn’t know what he was, if he was human or alien or if he was a robot.
Jacinto also talked about how the costume influenced his performance. The elements that Bryan included in the design inspired him to move in a ghostly way. He said it was like the costume itself was guiding his performance.
Working on The Acolyte was a dream come true for Jacinto, who has been a Star Wars fan since childhood. He expressed that being part of this universe and wearing such an amazing costume was an incredible experience.
The Acolyte is now streaming on Disney+.
