The Acolyte Master has a Star Wars-inspired mask, Donnie Darko

At the end of last week Acolyte, the Master appeared and proved to everyone that he meant business, effortlessly driving everyone away from the Light side of the Force with a flick of his wrist. This week, The Acolyte picks up from there, showing us the Sith Lord’s true power (and surprised, Sol doesn’t remember him…). Of course, we didn’t need to see the Master in action to know just how fierce a Sith Lord he was. Their look told us enough.

As you might expect, this is the intention of Jennifer Bryan, the costume designer for The Acolyte. When designing the mask with Star Wars creature design veteran Neal Scanlan, they knew it had to be consistent with the Star Wars dark side aesthetic, while still feeling like something again.

“My department had many concepts because, for the character, everything has to seem symbiotic; masks, cape, everything has to work together,” Bryan said, emphasizing how grateful she is for the high degree of collaboration between Star Wars departments. The goal, as with many Sith, was simple: communicate danger.

Image: Lucasfilm

“It had to be threatening. It had to be dark. And it had to be something you’d never seen before, but there was something familiar about it.

There were a few details to refine. Bryan explains that early models focused on different parts of the face, like the eyes. But ultimately, she took inspiration from two specific sources: she gave the helmet a flare at the base of the neck, to evoke (who else) Darth Vader. “The audience will subconsciously understand that this is a character to be careful with,” she says, citing him and Darth Maul as two points of inspiration from Star Wars.

But the defining characteristic – that toothy, Venom-like smile – came from a completely different place.

“Leslye (Pointe, The Acolyte‘s showrunner) says she thought of the evil rabbit in Donnie Darko“, Bryan said. There was something grotesque about it all. (…) I think the idea that Leslye wanted was that you feel a sense of dread when you see this character up close. »