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Credit: LucasfilmFresh off the show’s cancellation, Disney has allegedly scrubbed all traces of The Acolyte.
Much like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars has faced a bit of an issue lately: quantity over quality. While the franchise may not produce anywhere near as much content as the MCU (it’s been absent from theaters for five years for a start), it has gone all-in on Disney+ since the streaming service launched in 2019, to varying degrees of success.
Related: Luke Skywalker To Return as ‘Star Wars’ Main Character, Disney Rejects New Series
Its first show to hit the platform, The Mandalorian, was a huge hit with critics and fans alike.
Starring Pedro Pascal as the bounty hunter Din Djarin (or as his voice, at least), the series took place after the fall of the Galactic Empire in the gap between Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983) and Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015), with Din Djarin embarking upon an intergalactic adventure in his efforts to protect “The Child,” AKA Grogu (or Baby Yoda, depending who you’re talking to).
While the show’s space Western approach to Star Wars was a hit, other silver-screen entries to the franchise have been more uneven. Ahsoka, Obi-Wan Kenobi (which saw Ewan McGregor finally reprise the role of the Jedi alongside Hayden Christensen’s Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader), and The Book of Boba Fett have all proven much more divisive.
But none has sparked quite as much controversy as the latest Star Wars show to stream on Disney+. The Acolyte started receiving backlash well before it aired, thanks in no small part to the sentiments some toxic fans hold towards female-led projects with the Star Wars show having a female lead, Amandla Stenberg, and a female showrunner, Leslye Headland – both of whom are also members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Set towards the end of the High Republic era, roughly 100 years before the events of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999), the show follows respected Jedi Master Sol (Lee Jung-jae) as he dives into the mysterious murders of several Jedi Masters.
Teaming up with his former Padawan (Amandla Stenberg), they unravel a dark conspiracy led by her sister and a shadowy Sith Lord (Manny Jacinto). But as the truth unfolds, it becomes clear that Master Sol and a pair of twin Force-users are hiding deadly secrets of their own.
Aside from the usual review bombing, valid critiques of the show—such as its pacing and use of certain classic elements from the franchise—were often warped out of proportion, while attacks focused on The Acolyte ignoring or overriding key themes or concepts from the previous films was drilled home to the point that a casual observer would assume this is the worst Star Wars project ever made. (A conveniently forgotten fact is that people felt exactly the same about George Lucas’ prequel trilogy at one point).
Related: ‘Star Wars’ Princess Leia Legend’s Tragic Death Blamed on Sequels, “She Practically Killed Herself”
Now, just over a month after the show’s final episode aired, The Acolyte has reportedly been canceled by Disney after just one season due to poor viewership.
This isn’t totally unheard of, even in the world of Star Wars. Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Book of Boba Fett, and the upcoming Skeleton Crew have all received just the one outing. What is slightly more odd is the fact that Disney is now seemingly acting like the show never even existed.
There have been several reports of all merchandise for The Acolyte being removed from the Disney Store. A search on the website delivers zero results, whereas it previously sold themed items such as t-shirts.
All merchandise for ‘THE ACOLYTE’ has been removed from Disney’s online store.
All merchandise for ‘THE ACOLYTE’ has been removed from Disney’s online store. pic.twitter.com/0hrBpOjBQz
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) August 21, 2024
What makes this extra unusual is the fact that Disney is hardly a stranger to flops, especially in the last few years.
The last film from Walt Disney Animation, Wish (2023) – which was supposed to serve as a glorious culmination of the Disney100 celebration – was a colossal disappointment at the box office, and yet you can still find Wish merchandise both on the Disney Store website and in Disney theme parks (albeit, heavily discounted).
Some have theorized that this is just the beginning of Disney’s erasure of The Acolyte. Similar to how the company decided to remove Willow from Disney+ as a cost-cutting measure after the show performed below expectations, one fear among The Acolyte fans is that the show will be totally deleted.
Acolyte being cancelled after just 1 season becomes even more scary once you remember Willow was not only also cancelled, but even removed with many other single season shows from Disney Plus to cut costs. Who’s to say Disney won’t do the same to the Acolyte and feed the hatred?
Acolyte being cancelled after just 1 season becomes even more scary once you remember Willow was not only also cancelled, but even removed with many other single season shows from Disney Plus to cut costs. Who's to say Disney won't do the same to the Acolyte and feed the hatred? pic.twitter.com/rGC7LiIzdZ
— SageMerric (@LucasPSI3) August 20, 2024
“I am starting to think The Acolyte might get the Willow treatment,” wrote X (formerly known as Twitter) user @dermy_wermy, while @PalpamemesYT said, “The Acolyte is about to get Willow’d. I can feel it.”
Some remain more optimistic. As @thislilstangirl wrote, “I will gamble with god and say I don’t think The Acolyte will get the Willow treatment. I think it’ll more or less be treated like the sequel trilogy was before the Rey movie was announced. Barely remembered, celebrated, or mentioned in any canon significant way for years.”
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Ultimately, we’ll have to wait and see how far Disney’s erasure of The Acolyte goes. As far as Star Wars shows go, we stand by the fact that this one – and certainly all of the creatives involved in making it – deserved much, much better than they received from the internet at large over the past few months.
Headland herself said it best: “As a fan myself, I know how frustrating some Star Wars storytelling in the past has been. I’ve felt it myself … I stand by my empathy for Star Wars fans. But I want to be clear. Anyone who engages in bigotry, racism or hate speech … I don’t consider a fan.”
For those celebrating the show’s cancellation, another point to consider is the fact that this show was a pretty big leap for Lucasfilm. It’s rare for the studio to commission a project in the Star Wars universe with minimal connections to existing characters.
The show may have (spoiler alert) integrated Darth Plagueis and even featured a tiny cameo from Yoda (Frank Oz), but, for the most part, this was truly original storytelling that took some pretty bold creative leaps for Star Wars.
If Lucasfilm learns one lesson from this, let it be to give shows more time to breathe before you axe them for good – and not to lean more on existing IP in the future. However, the studio’s treatment of The Acolyte has been pretty disappointing from the offset.
There was minimal effort on their part to mitigate the toxic conversations around the show line. Paired with the way it’s currently responding to the show’s lackluster numbers, our faith in a galaxy far, far away has never been quite so shaky.
What are your thoughts on The Acolyte?