The Acolyte Cancelled After One Season by Lucasfilm
The Acolyte, one of the most divisive Star Wars projects to date, will not be moving forward with a second season.
Deadline broke the shocking story last night, more than a month after the series wrapped up its first season. Unlike other series such as The Book of Boba Fett, Visions, and Kenobi, this one is definitively over.
Experience the finale of #TheAcolyte, a Star Wars Original series, now streaming on @DisneyPlus. pic.twitter.com/pHJ6e4PKJd
— The Acolyte (@OfficialAcolyte) July 17, 2024
However, news of the series’s cancellation is not surprising. The series had a 180 million dollar budget, which makes it a major investment on the part of Lucasfilm. Unfortunately, it didn’t generate the views necessary to justify this budget. Though it started off with a strong start after its premiere, it quickly slipped out of Nielsen’s Top 10 by its third week. Its finale has the lowest watch time of any Star Wars series finale. A reason why some fans didn’t like the series is because they felt it wasn’t written well and changing what is already cannon.
In addition, the series was extremely divisive. On Rotten Tomatoes, there is a 60% gap between the critics and audience score. This is due to the racist and homophobic tendencies of certain areas of the fandom. Because showrunner Leslye Headland is gay, as is star Amandla Stenberg, certain groups started a massive review bombing campaign. The situation only became worse throughout the series as these fans became enraged at every new episode for supposedly breaking long-held Star Wars lore. Fortunately, positive fan campaigns after the series conclusion have shown not all Star Wars fans support such toxic behavior. But perhaps Lucasfilm simply wants to move on from the series and avoid further controversy.
I will train with you.
— The Acolyte (@OfficialAcolyte) July 19, 2024
All episodes of #TheAcolyte, a Star Wars Original series, now streaming on @DisneyPlus. pic.twitter.com/JFY0BLxryB
The Acolyte is a mystery-thriller set a century before any other Star Wars projects. Stenberg portrays twin sisters Mae and Osha as they enter into a hidden conflict between the powerful Jedi Order and the reclusive Sith Lord Qimir(Manny Jacinto). The series also stars Lee Jung-Jae(Squid Game) as Sol, Dafne Keen(Deadpool and Wolverine) as Jecki, and Charlie Barnett(Russian Doll) as Yord. You can watch The Acolyte in its entirety on Disney+ here.
