There were a lot of shocking events in this week’s episode, “The Acolyte,” but one stood out to me above all else: the fact that the Stranger, who may be our new favorite Sith, was wearing a bronze helmet instead of a black one.
If you’re reading this, you’ve probably already seen the episode, or at least one of the episodes featuring this creepy new villain, so you know what he looks like. Well, after the episode, Hasbro released images of a replica version of the helmet, and I was struck by its light bronze color. When I was watching the show, I thought it was black. Star Wars villains (Vader, Maul, Kylo, Palpatine) tend to like the color black.
Prop replica helmet. Image: Hasbro
There are two assumptions here. The most likely is that in the show’s reality, the helmet was bronze when new, but has since been in so many battles that it’s become heavily damaged and discolored. The other possibility is that the helmet is actually bronze on set, but lighting and movie magic make it appear black on screen. (We’ve actually reached out to Lucasfilm to try and clarify this point, and will update the post if we find out.)
Now, why is this interesting? Because, as most Star Wars fans know, it’s happened before. In The Empire Strikes Back, Han Solo’s jacket on Hoth appears blue on screen. In fact, it looks so blue on screen that when Kenner made toys of Han for those scenes, the toy was wearing blue. So for a generation, everyone thought the jacket was blue. But it was later revealed that the actual jacket on set was brown. Debates continue to this day about which jacket is real, the one that was on set, or the one we think we’re seeing.
Recognition is also a big issue when it comes to the Stranger. In the first four episodes, we didn’t get to see much of him, and when we did, he was always in the background and looked like he was dressed all in black — more like Kylo Ren than Snoke. But in the new episodes, we finally get to see the character up close, and his mix of bronze and black is clearly visible. This new Acolyte poster shows this off best.
Bronze? Black? Both? Both! Image: Lucasfilm
That’s right. It’s bronze. Han’s jacket is brown. But I don’t care. I prefer what I saw on screen. Naturally, this may not be a popular opinion. Makers tend to use the on-set references provided by the studio, and if it’s bronze, that’s fine. But hey! The jacket looks blue. The helmet looks black. And without the merchandising, you would never know they were both actually different colors.
What do you think about this debate? Do you think the Stranger’s Cortez helmet is black or bronze? What about Han’s Hoth jacket? Share your thoughts below.
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