The Acolyte’s Leslye Headland Wants to Make a Live-Action KOTOR Featuring an Intriguing Character

Knights of the Old Republic has been an object of fascination for Star Wars fans ever since its debut two decades ago. Disney has hinted that the KOTOR era, which takes place thousands of years before the original movie, could be a major movie setting in the future, but it has otherwise remainly mostly untouched by the broader franchise.

Count The Acolyte showrunner Leslye Headland among those intrigued by the possibilities of KOTOR, which was centered around the conflicts between the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire. Speaking with the Omelete in an interview translated by IGN, Headland said she was particularly interested in Kreia, one of the major characters from KOTOR 2.

“I’ve always wanted to explore a live-action version of the Knights of the Old Republic game and Kreia’s character,” Headland said. “I think it would be a really interesting story to bring to life.”

In KOTOR 2, Kreia is a blind Force-sensitive who forms a bond with the main character through the Force. In the story, Kreia is the protagonist’s mentor, but rejects the divide between the light side and dark side. While Headland doesn’t elaborate on how exactly she would realize Kreia’s story, she is one of the most popular characters in the KOTOR series.

In a 2018 KOTOR 2 retrospective we called Kreia one of the best Star Wars characters, period — a high bar for an adaptation.

In the meantime, Headland is focused on The Acolyte, a show set at the end of the High Republic and a little more than 130 years before A New Hope. We wrote in our review, “The Acolyte takes us to an earlier era of Star Wars than we’ve seen on screen, with mixed results. Awkward dialogue and a small scope rob it of some of the series’ signature space magic, but these old-school Jedi are a thrill to watch in action.”

While KOTOR has yet to feature in one of Disney’s works, the setting remains active thanks to an MMO and other works. Saber Interactive’s remake also continues to be “alive and well.”

As for The Acolyte, its next episode is set to release on Tuesday.

Kat Bailey is IGN’s News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.