The Acolyte, one of now many live-action Star Wars series on Disney+, delivered a fresh perspective on the galaxy far, far away, but was ultimately canceled after one season due to cost considerations, despite its moderate success. Initially premiering in June 2024, the eight-episode season set during the waning days of the High Republic era followed a former Padawan (Amandla Stenberg) and her Jedi Master as they uncovered sinister forces behind a series of crimes.
While this premise has been done before, a crime drama through the sci-fi lens of Star Wars was, at first, promising to me and many other fans. Though the series was critically acclaimed for its innovative storytelling, the series apparently faced polarized audience reception and financial challenges that overshadowed its potential for continuation.
TVLine reports that critics praised The Acolyte for expanding the Star Wars universe in bold new directions, with Rotten Tomatoes reflecting a 78% critic score. However, fan reviews diverged sharply, with a user score of just 18%. A vocal subset of fans criticized the series for casting a Black LGBTQ actor as its lead, with some branding it "woke" (as seems to be the trend with this crowd and their opinion on many TV shows, movies, and games these days.)
Despite this backlash, The Acolyte made a Nielsen streaming Top 10 debut with its first two episodes, amassing nearly 500 million minutes of viewing time. Yet viewership waned, and it briefly returned to the Top 10 only after the release of the finale. Alan Bergman, Disney Entertainment’s co-chair, explained to Vulture that the show’s "cost structure" didn’t justify a second season, despite the creative team’s satisfaction with its performance:
"We were happy with our performance, but it wasn’t where we needed it to be... to make a Season 2."Alan Bergman
The cancellation was particularly disheartening for lead actress Amandla Stenberg, who had endured relentless online harassment since the show’s announcement. In August, Stenberg described the backlash as "a rampage of hyper-conservative bigotry," adding that she wasn’t shocked by the decision.
Despite The Acolyte’s short-lived journey, Disney remains optimistic about the future of its Star Wars TV shows. Alan Bergman highlighted progress on other projects, including Andor season 2, set to debut in April 2025, and the currently-running Skeleton Crew. Meanwhile, The Mandalorian and Grogu’s story will continue on the big screen with a feature film scheduled to come out in May 2026.
For those of you who haven't seen it, The Acolyte is streaming on Disney+.
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