Earlier this week, it was reported that Disney and Lucasfilm have decided not to move forward with a second season of The Acolyte, which has been met by varied reactions from Star Wars fans.
The first season of the show was the very first Star Wars live-action project to take place outside of the Skywalker saga, set in the final days of the High Republic – one hundred years or so prior to The Phantom Menace. Created by showrunner Leslye Headland, it followed twins of mysterious origins, Mae and Osha, in a murder-mystery series. It’s about the rise of the Sith, in the shadows, with a Stranger murdering Jedi and training Sith acolytes. The series tied up plenty of threads by the finale, but also introduced several more: Vernestra Rwoh’s hunt for the Stranger, her former apprentice; Darth Plagueis lurking in the shadows observing the Stranger and Osha; and Grand Master Yoda receiving a visit from Vernestra.
It’s disappointing news that there won’t be a second season, but I want to flesh out my thoughts on this further.
The Acolyte was good, actually
Though reception on the series was mixed, let’s start here: this show was actually good. Far from great, but also far from bad. The show gave us our first live-action look at the High Republic era, and the first on-screen look in canon outside of the Skywalker Saga. It introduced some really compelling new characters, namely (in my mind) Sol and Qimir. We got to see more complicated Jedi characters, which tied into the prequel trilogy so well. The tension running underneath the surface of the Galactic Senate wanting more oversight of the Jedi Order because they don’t trust them lays the seeds for Palpatine’s rise in terrific, and very believable, ways. And the action choreography of this series was terrific, on-par with the best we’ve ever seen from the franchise. For the first time in live-action since 2002, we got a new Sith, and Qimir’s Stranger stole every scene he was in. To get to see the Jedi fight this mysterious Sith was a real thrill, and something Star Wars fans have been hoping to see for a long time. Not only that, but this series took some bold choices in embracing the darkness, and while not all of it clicked (I found the characters of Osha and Mae mildly interesting, but not enough to carry the whole series), seeing Osha’s descent to darkness was a fresh twist on so many other Star Wars stories. Plus, there were some significant teases for the future of the show that added depth, like how the Stranger was Vernestra Rwoh’s padawan, and most importantly, how Darth Plagueis was involved. This was a good Star Wars story with some really great moments, even if they didn’t all hit.
2. It shouldn’t be a huge surprise that this was not renewed
The Acolyte was first announced in late 2020, when Bob Chapek had just taken over as CEO of the Walt Disney Company and momentum around the Disney+ streaming service was shifting. Today, Bob Iger is back as CEO and trying to undo some of the perceived mistakes made by Chapek, while the strategy around Disney+ has changed again. Disney, it seems, is beginning to cut back on some of the shows from their major brands (like Star Wars and Marvel) in an attempt to improve the quality (or at least the perceived quality from those online). This, combined with the fact that the series was seemingly green-lit under Iger’s predecessor, already made a renewal uncertain. Furthermore, the series was about brand new characters in a brand new period, meaning that fans didn’t have the connection to characters like they have to characters in other shows (like Ahsoka). But most damning of all were the streaming numbers. On the one hand, The Acolyte got considerable attention, which is going to happen with any Star Wars project. On the other hand, it was the least-watched live-action Star Wars show by a considerable margin, and it’s streaming numbers dropped significantly as the season went on. It was “on the air “on the air” for seven weeks, yet only three times did it crack Nielsen’s top ten most streamed original shows for the week.
Streaming numbers say nothing (at least inherently) about the quality of a show. But it does say something about the interest in the show. And considering the context into which The Acolyte was born in the first place, it’s clear that this show did not catch on. Whether we like it or not, there’s a reason why there hasn’t been a Solo sequel yet. And there’s a reason why there won’t be a second season of The Acolyte. While quality is of supreme importance, the bottom line is that the bottom line matters – a lot.
3. Let’s hope Lucasfilm doesn’t learn the wrong lessons
But obviously Disney is not going to just stop making Star Wars altogether, nor should they – the franchise continues to be a money-maker, with a few blips along the way. Which leaves us in a difficult spot, because Star Wars fans are a very strange bunch. Passionate, but also entitled. And one of the questions that quickly emerges is this: what do people want from a Star Wars show? These fans weren’t without legitimate criticisms of the show, and hopefully this forces Lucasfilm to wrestle with them.
But here is my fear: that Lucasfilm will learn the wrong lessons from it. The Acolyte was inundated with a lot of negative review-bombing (especially by those who didn’t even watch the show, as proven by the number of negative reviews for episodes before they even aired each week). When a few popular Star Wars Youtubers don’t like a show, their minions assume they shouldn’t like it either. Issues get blown out of proportion, and the toxic segments of the fandom become the most vocal. Let me make this very clear: Lucasfilm should absolutely not, under any circumstance, cater to the toxic segments of the fandom. That does not mean Lucasfilm was wrong for deciding not to renew The Acolyte, just that we should hope the reason was not these groups of fans. Right now, the toxic fandom is celebrating, and that’s a shame. The loudest fans have been given far too big of a voice in the online discourse of Star Wars projects, which is problematic enough in its own right, but now it seems that they are influencing content decisions too, which is disastrous. Right now, there is a crisis for this franchise, one driven not primarily by what’s on-screen but by what’s online. And until these loudest Star Wars “fans” come to realize that Star Wars needs to grow and expand, and that it’s ok if not everything connects with them like the original trilogy did when they were younger, this franchise will continue to tread water.
Furthermore, The Acolyte represented one of the most ambitious Star Wars projects in recent memory, jumping way outside of the Skywalker Saga. I fear that Lucasfilm will view this as confirmation that they should play it safe with future stories and just stick to the characters we already know and love. It’s not a problem to tell stories about characters like Luke Skywalker (in fact, my biggest dream Star Wars project remains an animated show following Luke in-between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens). But if there’s no room for this franchise to grow beyond, that will prove crippling down the road.
4. The streaming age is a troubling breeding ground for quality shows
Speaking of growth, shows have traditionally been given time to grow and develop. Think about, for instance, how many shows you love that, when recommending it to friends, you say something like “it really starts getting good around season two”. The Clone Wars was an example of this. Fans hated the character of Ahsoka Tano at first, but as the show went on – over multiple seasons – the reception began to change. I think it is a very concerning aspect of the modern streaming age that shows aren’t being given that kind of chance, but are being judged almost immediately by what kind of reception they get. I fear we’ll continue to see shows that could have become great never get the chance to do so, because they’re cancelled right after they got started. I wouldn’t call The Acolyte a great show (though I did enjoy it and thought it was good), but I also would say that every Star Wars series with multiple seasons has improved on the inaugural season. I wouldn’t consider the first season the best for The Clone Wars, Rebels, Resistance, or The Mandalorian. Those shows continued to grow, and it’s foolish to think The Acolyte wouldn’t have.
This isn’t even so much a defense of The Acolyte as much as it’s a larger industry-wide concern about timing and patience. In today’s culture, patience is in very short supply online amongst fans, but it’s equally short amongst creatives in Hollywood.
5. The Acolyte will live on, somehow… but at what cost?
At the end of the day, The Acolyte will live on. That’s one of the beautiful things about Star Wars: characters and stories get expanded on in a variety of mediums, like books and comics. Already there have been some books and comics announced that will be coming in the next year focused on characters from this show, and I trust more will come. Those who loved these characters and this show will continue to get stories about them, I’m sure. But it’s sad that it won’t be on the screen.
Where will Lucasfilm go from here? Nobody knows. Outside of Skeleton Crew (which comes out this December) and Andor (which concludes next year), the only series we know of is the second season of Ahsoka. The creatives behind Star Wars are at a crossroads, and they have a lot to consider. It’s been definitively proven that the fans have no clue what they actually want Star Wars to be. The question is, does Disney?
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