The Acolyte Brings Wookiee Jedi Action At Last

Joonas Suotamo, known for taking over the role of Chewbacca after Peter Mayhew, has brought life to a new Wookiee character: Kelnacca. Fans were enthusiastic when it was announced that Kelnacca would be the first Wookiee Jedi in a live-action Star Wars series. However, their excitement was short-lived when Kelnacca’s character met an untimely end in the fourth episode of “The Acolyte” without ever engaging in any real action.

The latest episode titled “Choice” revisited the past events at Brendok, showcasing a gripping scene featuring Kelnacca. In this scene, Kelnacca is controlled by witches and forced to battle with fellow Jedi. Following the episode, fans expressed their delight on social media about finally seeing Kelnacca in action.

“This duel from the latest episode of The Acolyte was seriously so great,” tweeted @jtimsuggs. “The choreography in this show has been nothing short of spectacular, and finally seeing Kelnacca in action was as entertaining as it was terrifying.”

@TheSWU commented, “Seeing a Wookiee Jedi go ham in live-action has gotta be a top 10 Star Wars moment of the decade.”

“Wookie Jedi fight was such a delight,” added @ArmandDoma.

@kevinwinston praised the episode, saying, “My fave part of Acolyte Episode 7 is seeing a Wookie Jedi use a lightsaber in a good fight, first time in 47 years! They have strength and saber / Force skills, much better than weakling humans. Now I want to see the entire SW franchise with Wookie leads instead!”

In a recent press roundtable, The Acolyte creator Leslye Headland provided insights into the meticulous choreography of Kelnacca’s fight scene, considering his inherent Wookiee strength combined with his Jedi skills, all while being mind-controlled.

“Wookiees are not obviously against antagonists,” Headland explained. “They can be very aggressive, but they have this honor code specifically about extending their claws, which they don’t do for anything except climbing. So what we talked about was that when he was under this particular influence, not only would he be so aggressive against his friends and ostensibly the heroes of the story in a way that felt pretty vicious and unlike his own personality, but that also he would unknowingly make this horrible, horrendous choice that he would never make under his own will. He would never have done so.”

“I guess technically he would get a pass for that, but I don’t think he gives himself a pass for it,” she continued. “But the fight was incredible. I mean, that was all Kogonada who directed the episode, Chris Cowan, my action choreographer, and also the second unit director, the actors. Joonas is the only person who fits in the suit. So he did all of his own stunts in fighting. JJ did almost all of his own stunts in fighting. My only contribution to it was the one time when Sol is grabbing his arm and saying his name. I just thought it felt like Sol would try to get through to him emotionally, not just fight him.”

The season finale of Star Wars: The Acolyte is set to release on Disney+ on July 16th.

Source: ComicBook