Disney recently released two action sequences to tease the debut of its Disney+ streaming showThe Acolyte. One shows Indara, the character played by Carrie-Ann Moss, trading blows with Amanda Steinberg’s character, Mae.
New clip from ‘STAR WARS: THE ACOLYTE’Releasing June 4 on Disney+pic.twitter.com/ux5TF081DJ
The other clip shows Sol, the character played bySquid Game’sLee Jung-Jae, once again up against Mae.
But something feels off here. At least Sol and Indara are clearly Jedi, so I’m kinda baffled that they’re keeping their lightsabers off when possibly up against anassassin of Jedi.It’s very strange that they’re only resorting to their fists, martial arts, and the force. I get that they might just be testing Mae, or trying to extract intel out of her since this isStar Wars’detective story, but there’s a funnier possibility.
The reason behind this new Jedi approach to battle might be one of the most infamousStar Warsgames ever made. I’m talking aboutStar Wars: Masters of Teräs Käsi.
The old ways
What’s that, you ask? Well,Teräs Käsiisn’t just aStar Warsgibberish word. It’s a Finnish word that means “Steel Hand”. If that sounds a lot like the “Iron Fist” tournament fromTekken, it’s because someone at LucasArts at some point apparently had the dream of making a fighting game that would rivalTekken.Their dream turned into a meme.
Even thoughLucasArts was on a roll back then,Masters OfTeräs Käsiis still known as one of the worst fighting games of all time. Not only are the controls bad and the mechanics pretty much non-existent, but the game doesn’t even make sense in the world ofStar Wars.
The main character is Arden Lyn, an original character who wears a fist literally made of steel, and also uses a martial art named Teräs Käsi to beat his opponents. That’s very convenient and cool, too bad that Lyn’s opponents are people like Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, two dudes who know that the best use for a mechanic fist is swinging a lightsaber.
It’s unconfirmed at this moment whether this truly is Teräs Käsi in action, or just a different style of fighting than we’re used to seeing in theStar Warsuniverse. It seems designed specifically to deal with Jedi, frequently attempting to both remove their main weapon – the lightsaber – and use sneak attacks to gain the upper-hand.
TheTeräs Käsigame has been a joke among fans ofStar Warsand fighting games in general for over 20 years now, but fist-fighting Jedi might finally be becoming a thing. Why? Well, Disney very transparently said that Indara isheavily based on Trinity, the character Carrie-Anne Moss plays inThe Matrixquadrilogy. I guess having Space Trinity showing off her kung fu chops makes more sense as an homage than having her be a Jedi with dual-wielding blasters.
But I’d really like it to be because of that Han Solo movie, the most bizarre film they ever slapped theStar Warstitle on, and naturally the only one courageous enough to promoteTeräs Käsiinto actualStar Warslore.
The Acolytecomes out on Disney + on June 4 and, despite the bad feeling I have about this, the series has been garnering a lot of positive buzz fromearly viewers.
