‘The Acolyte’ Showrunner Leslye Headland Believes Star Wars Series’ Final Fight Scene Tops ‘The Phantom Menace’, ‘The Matrix’
In the opinion of showrunner Leslye Headland, The Acolyte‘s final fight scene is not only on the same level as, but outright better than those that respectively punctuated Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace and The Matrix.
Taking place between the Sith Qimir and the Jedi Master Sol, the clash in question sees the two force users going all out in a life-or-death duel fueled by their respective romantic and parental feelings Osha, their battleground the Brendok ruins that once played host to the series’ resident space witch coven.
Featuring lightsaber throws and anime-inspired dashes, while not the best fight ever put to film, it is admittedly one of the better ones seen throughout The Acolyte (if not solely for the fact that it’s actually possible to see what the combatants are actually doing).
However, according to Headland, Qimir and Sol’s showdown is not just one of the best fights of the series, but of Hollywood overall.
Speaking to her creative process in bringing this scene to life, Headland told Collider‘s Maggie Lovitt, “[Second unit director] Chris Cowan and I, we were shooting for immortality. We were like, ‘We are f–king going for it. We want to top Duel of the Fates [from The Phantom Menace], we want to top the train station in The Matrix. We will settle for nothing less.’
“I will leave it up to the viewer as to whether or not we achieved that,” she added, “but in my heart of hearts, I was like, ‘We achieved that.’ As far as I’m concerned.”
Interestingly, it seems Headland’s decision to make Qimir vs. Sol her magnum opus came rather late in The Acolyte‘s production timeline, as earlier in the interview the showrunner revealed that the Sith originally played no parts in the series’ finale.
“Initially, we weren’t gonna see him in Episode 6,” explained Headland. “In Episode 6, she was going to leave him, go and do her thing in the finale, and then return to him at the end of the last episode. I saw Manny [Jacinto]’s screen test in the helmet and in his cloak, I saw him learning his fight choreography, and I thought, ‘There will be riots in the streets if I do not end the show with him versus Sol.’ That was clear.”
Laughing, the showrunner concluded, “So I rewrote the ending of the show for Manny.”
Notably, Headland is not the first member of The Acolyte‘s cast and crew to make mention of the series’ particular intention to present viewers with a more iconic battle than the one that closed out the first Star Wars prequel.
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly in April, Jecki Lon actress Dafne Keen revealed, “Yeah, that was a very frequent conversation we had. It was very much: We want to top the Darth Maul fight — the most iconic fight, I think, in the Star Wars cinematic universe. It’s such an amazing fight and we were all so excited about the saber fights. There’s such a skill and a craft to it that it feels so OG Star Wars and feels so impressive when you see it as a viewer.”
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