Star Wars: The Acolyte has been officially canceled after its divisive first season. Set a century before Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, The Acolyte was intended to open up a whole new part of the Star Wars timeline. Unfortunately, Leslye Headland’s TV show became extremely controversial; there was a vocal backlash against The Acolyte on social media, accompanied by a review-bombing campaign.
According to Deadline, The Acolyte has officially been canceled by Lucasfilm. Although Headland had presented her pitch for a second season, Lucasfilm chose not to renew it. Until now, it’s been difficult to say whether The Acolyte had met Disney’s expectations, because the vocal review-bombing campaign made it difficult to properly assess the show’s viewership – especially on an international level. Now, it’s clear The Acolyte has failed to be a success. In the end, viewership wasn’t good enough.
Why Was The Acolyte Canceled By Lucasfilm?
There’s a sense in which The Acolyte never really had a chance. A vocal backlash began on social media long before the show’s release, with showrunner Leslye Headland proving particularly controversial. A review-bombing campaign meant The Acolyte struggled to make headway against such a negative buzz, and it didn’t help that the show was far from perfect; two flashback episodes drained momentum, while pacing and dialogue was often problematic.
That isn’t to say The Acolyte was awful, though; there were some moments that truly stood out, such as the whole of episode 5, in which the Sith Lord known as the Stranger battled against an entire group of Jedi. This had some of the best lightsaber choreography in Star Wars history, and Manny Jacinto’s performance as the Stranger was truly stellar. It’s particularly upsetting for this news to break on Jacinto’s birthday.
The end of The Acolyte leaves a lot of questions up in the air. It introduced viewers to the live-action Darth Plagueis at last, a character first name-dropped in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith – and who will likely remain a mystery. Various tie-in novels and comics have already been announced, but they can’t possibly tie up all the loose ends left by The Acolyte. It will be sad to see this era end in such an unceremonious fashion.