New information confirmed that Darth Plagueis was supposed to be the villain of Lucasfilm's cancelled High Republic Disney+ show. In July 2024, not long after its first season came to a close, it was officially revealed that The Acolyte had been cancelled, ending its pre-Prequels story before it ever really got started. This left plenty of questions for fans, given what they did get, including, 'Who was The Stranger?' 'Why did Yoda pop up in the finale?' and 'Was that really Darth Plaguies in the cave?'
As part of the new Art of Star Wars: The Acolyte art book (via The Holofiles), The Acolyte series creator Leslye Headland pulled the curtain back on some key details about the now-cancelled Star Wars series, including her plans for Darth Plagueis in the streaming show. "I had always wanted the end of the season to introduce Plagueis," she divulged, adding that the character's introduction was meant to tee him up as "a larger threat" for future seasons:
"I had always wanted the end of the season to introduce Plagueis. Having him come in in the middle felt like it was going to be too loaded. So we decided to establish the era, the main characters, and the storyline, and then put Plagueis in as the larger threat."
Instead of getting an outright confirmation of the infamous Star Wars villain in the series itself, all audiences saw of the character was a pale alien peeking out from within a dimly lit cave on Bal'demnic.
While many had assumed the mystery character was Plagueis, it was never outright confirmed within The Acolyte's eight-episode run.
Darth Plagueis has become one of the most legendary Star Wars characters to never properly appear on-screen within the canon itself. First introduced in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, the Dark Side character was brought up by Ian McDiarmid's Emperor Palpatine in a conversation with Hayden Christensen's Anakin Skywalker, as a former Sith Master with the power to give and take life through the Force.
Will Darth Plagueis Ever Be Revisited In Star Wars?
Hearing that Darth Plagueis was not only confirmed to be a part of The Acolyte but was also reportedly set to play a significant role in the show's future seasons before it was cancelled will almost surely be heartbreaking to fans who have been eager to see the Muun Sith Lord brought into canon.
As of now, the only proper glimpse of the character revealed to this point was the shady tease at the end of The Acolyte Season 1. And with no Season 2 being pursued by Disney+, that version of the fabled Star Wars villain will likley never be seen or heard from again.
That does not mean fans will never see Darth Plagueis come to the screen at some point down the line, though. Just because The Acolyte is done does not mean Plagueis is. He remains one of the most interesting hanging threads from the Star Wars Prequels. Surely, Lucasfilm has some idea of how to move forward with the character in some form.
With the High Republic literary initiative now complete, Star Wars will dip its toes even further into the era with some TV and film projects. A Disney+ series recounting Plagueis' origins could be something interesting for the franchise to explore, especially as its streaming slate beyond 2026 remains entirely blank.
