There’s probably been more written about the failure of The Acolyte than the show itself. The Star Wars series was canceled after just one season on Disney+. Set in the High Republic era of Star Wars lore (roughly 125 years before Episode I: The Phantom Menace), the series explored the Jedi at their height of power. It focused on separated twin sisters Verosha "Osha" and Mae-ho "Mae" Aniseya (both played by Amandla Stenberg) and how they fall into the conflict of the Jedi and the returning Sith.
The series did got mixed reviews for its writing, pacing and acting. It still did have its good points and the finale set up a second season only for the axe to fall. Now, creator Leslye Headland is opening up about the show's cancelation and fan backlash.
In a new interview with The Wrap, Headland said the project may have been too risky to work with certain factions in the Star Wars fandom:
“[The Acolyte] was always a major risk. It was a new part of the timeline. It was all new characters. It was a part of the lore where you couldn’t use a Storm Trooper, you didn’t have the reference of the politics and war that Tony Gilroy has brilliantly exploited in such a genius way in 'Andor.' But all that iconography and all those visual references are original trilogy references, and our references were the High Republic novels and the publishing initiative and then the prequels, specifically with the lightsabers.”
Headland directly addressed seeing the show being attacked, including the racial-charged harassment that some of its cast received:
“I was not online. However, I am a 'Star Wars' fan, which means I have always been, since the launch of YouTube, part of the 'Star Wars' recap/criticism/lionization fandom community. These guys I’ve known for years and years. So when I got the information from others about what the weather report was, there was this real concern from friends of mine or co-workers of mine that saddened me. I also was like, 'I know who these guys are.' You don’t have to tell me who’s talking about it or how bad it is online, I know exactly who they are. I supported them on Patreon. There are some of them that I respect, and there are some of them that I think are absolutely snake oil salesmen, just opportunists. Then, of course, there are the fascists and racists. So it runs a gamut. It isn’t just one thing or the other. So in some ways I wasn’t surprised, and then in other ways I was disappointed. I think you always do that when you create something, it’s just that 'Star Wars' is on a massive level of visibility.”
Headland’s words do resonate, as the show was a victim of review bombing on some ratings sites and some of the outcry was less due to the show’s actual quality than the cast. It sadly showed a toxic minority of the fandom that grew louder than the show deserved.
The Acolyte creator addresses the show’s flaws
Headland was quick to state that she understood and even agreed with the fans who criticized the show’s flaws.“I also think that any gripes creatively with the show are completely valid," she said. "That’s people’s reaction. It’s usually their reaction to their own reaction. But like I said the show was always a risk. It’s the old adage of the first one through the wall is the bloodiest.”
The series does have its defenders, who have pointed out the show’s strengths such as its amazing action scenes and how it addressed the problems of the Jedi. Many shows have suffered weak first seasons only to majorly improve, and there was a good chance The Acolyte would have corrected many of its problems in a second season.
Headland admitted that she was not surprised by the cancelation, but was "surprised at the swiftness of it and the publicness of it."
"I was surprised by how it was handled," she added. "But once I was getting particular phone calls about the reaction and the criticism and the viewership, I felt like ‘OK, the writing’s on the wall for sure.’
But before some accuse Headland and painting all fans with the same brush, she related that her ultimate memories of the experience are positive.
“It made me start to think, rather than these fans are toxic, or this thing is being mean to me, it made me think more that the content being made about 'Star Wars' will ultimately be more culturally impactful than actual 'Star Wars.' With Star Wars, you're not just measured within the marketplace that you happen to be in at that time, you’re measured against every other Star Wars show.”
The Acolyte season 2 would have focused more on Manny Jacinto's Qimir
Headland also discussed some of the ideas for season 2 involving Manny Jacinto's Qimir, how she wanted to delve more into the characters, and planned on exploring Darth Plagueis (Palpatine’s Sith master), with Qimir replacing the central relationship role for Mae previously held by Lee-Jung jae's Jedi Master in season 1. She is sad it will never come to pass, but insisted she has “no regrets” on the experience of making The Acolyte.
“I’m absolutely obsessed with Star Wars. I still am, and I love my show, and I know that it was wonderful," she said.
The debate over The Acolyte is ongoing, with some fans coming around to recognize how it was a promising show whose flaws could have been corrected over time. The show explored a different era for Star Wars lore, one that needed more detail and has so much potential left in it. It’s sad to have ended the way it did, but at least Headland still retains warm feelings about it.
The Acolyte is streaming on Disney+.