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Credit: LucasfilmIt has been confirmed that The Acolyte has officially been canceled by Disney and Lucasfilm, and a great reaction rippled throughout the Star Wars fandom yesterday afternoon. While many are quick to point fingers at the overzealous fan base, the smoking gun lies at the heart of the production team.
Due to the divisive reception and controversial comments made by showrunner, Leslye Headland, it was highly unlikely that the show would be renewed for a second season. Although The Acolyte had several interesting concepts and promising elements, it failed to meet fan expectations.
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It’s true that the Star Wars fan base has not had the most favorable reputation, especially given the problematic history of cyberbullying and backlash against casting. However, while fans like @ninatheginger are quick to point out how much trouble they can cause in the footage below, they aren’t entirely to blame for the show’s shortcomings.
Who Killed The Acolyte?
@ninatheginger A little Star Wars ranty ranty about the Acolyte news 🙂↕️ #starwars #disneyplus #TheAcolyte #starwarsfan
Although the creator above claims that the “racist,” “terrible,” and “toxic” fanboys now have all the power, true Star Wars fans who stuck with the series from the beginning to the end know what went wrong. It’s certainly true that review-bombing the show didn’t help, but there was indeed a method behind the madness.
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The official report from The Hollywood Reporter shared,
The Acolyte will not return for season two, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. Lucasfilm has opted not to continue the Disney+ Star Wars series, which aired its season one finale last month.
The Leslye Headland-created show earned respectable reviews from critics, but was panned by audiences, with only 18 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. The show was review-bombed from some quarters who perceived it as “woke,” with certain corners of the internet going after Headland, who is a member of the LGBTQ+ community, as well as the series’ diverse group of actors.
It wouldn’t be untrue to say that anti-LGBTQ+ elements didn’t contribute to the reception, but the series began to crumble long before the first episode hit Disney+. Moreover, the real blame lies with some of the creative decisions made during the production process.
Doomed From the Start?
The road to hell is paved with good intentions, and there is no better example of that than The Acolyte. Although the series had so many good elements going for it, such as the High Republic Era setting and the introduction of Darth Plagueis the Wise, it all fell by the wayside as Headland pushed her own narrative to the forefront rather than adhere to the rules of the realm.
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Star Wars isn’t just a franchise at this point; it’s an entire universe with its own rules, cultures, and previously established belief systems. Because Headland and her writers strayed so far from the path, the end result ultimately suffered.
The showrunner even confirmed in a previous interview that she intentionally brought in creators who had little to no experience writing for Star Wars, and the results spoke for themselves.
Headland told Indie Wire,
“There were people like myself that were like later-in-life [Dave] Filoni acolytes. I literally had one writer that was like, ‘I have never seen any of them. I’ve never seen any “Star Wars” media.’ And she’s texting me before we started the room, she’s like, ‘Luke and Leia are brother and sister, what the…?’”
Later in the same interview, she went on to add,
“It was so great, because I would really love to know from someone who is not fully immersed in this fandom, what do you think about the pitch we just made?”
It is indeed true that Headland is yet another victim of the anti-woke mob, though she didn’t need much help with that, but her true misstep was failing the fanbase. Although the male-saturated consumer base has been blamed for the show’s failure, doesn’t it make more business sense to appeal to the dominant audience?
Instead, both Headland and Lucasfilm CEO Kathleen Kennedy have openly rebuked the male fans in previous interviews (found here), further dividing Disney and Lucasfilm’s consumer base. However, it doesn’t stop there.
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Even before the series was finished, Headland made it blatantly clear that she wasn’t playing with a full deck. By outwardly ignoring the lore and lay of the galaxy, she continued to drive the series deeper into the proverbial Sarlacc Pit.
Furthermore, depending too much on the “morally gray” stereotypes amidst a battle between the literal forces of light and dark didn’t quite share the intended message. While depicting antagonistic Jedi is certainly nothing new to the extended Star Wars universe, the way they were portrayed more like a religious cult of zealots than the established protectors of peace and justice did more than rub a few people the wrong way.
Factors like those prove that both Headland and her creative team were ultimately unprepared to deliver what they promised, which led to a dissatisfied audience and a poor critical reception, ultimately concluding with Disney pulling the plug. This is how a series dies.
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While the toxic fanbase isn’t guiltless, it is only the result of a misguided storyline by a creator who lost the plot before the fourth episode. Hopefully, the scandal surrounding The Acolyte urges Disney to enlist writers and directors with an understanding and vision befitting the galaxy far, far away.
Why do you think The Acolyte was cancelled? Tell Inside the Magic in the comments down below!