‘The Acolyte’ Tried Something New; Its Cancellation Worries ‘Star Wars’ Fans

There is every indication that, as of San Diego Comic-Con just weeks ago, Lucasfilm was planning on a future for “The Acolyte.” Instead, on August 19, it was first reported that the Disney+ “Star Wars” prequel series was canceled.

It’s strange that at Comic-Con on July 26, the annual Stories from a Galaxy Far, Far Away panel showed that Lucasfilm Publishing had invested a great deal in “The Acolyte,” with multiple new tie-in books and comics related to the show. Random House Worlds was set to publish a novel in 2025 by Justina Ireland about Rebecca Henderson’s Jedi Master Vernestra Rwoh and Carrie-Anne Moss’s Master Indara. February 2025 would introduce “The Acolyte” character Kelnacca, the Wookiee Jedi Master, into the ongoing “The High Republic” comic book series from Marvel. In July 2025, a YA novel focusing on Charlie Barnett’s Yord and Dafne Keen’s Jecki was expected. This level of investment did not suggest an imminent cancellation of “The Acolyte” was on Lucasfilm’s radar even as of late July. Moreover, “The Acolyte” was featured prominently at D23 just two weekends ago, including an on-stage Q&A with Manny Jacinto.

And yet, canceled the show is. Despite a cliffhanger ending that saw Amandla Stenberg’s Osha turn to the Dark Side and join Jacinto’s Sith Lord as his acolyte, introducing Darth Plagueis from the shadows, and a tantalizing glimpse of Master Yoda, the series will not continue. Set 100 years before “The Phantom Menace,” showrunner Leslye Headland had a wide canvas to work with and little preexisting canon to navigate.

More than just promising teases, “The Acolyte” was the live-action culmination of three and a half years of an initiative spearheaded by Lucasfilm Publishing called “The High Republic.” This initiative considered the Jedi at their zenith, before the Sith started to erode their influence. Dozens of books and comics preceded “The Acolyte” as part of “The High Republic,” and “The Acolyte” was almost conceived as a coda to this whole storytelling initiative, which launched with Charles Soule’s “Light of the Jedi” in January 2021. The show aimed to tell the specific story of how the Sith came out of the shadows to stand against the Jedi once more.

Now, “The Acolyte” is done. Headland was optimistic when she spoke in July about her hopes for the future and the stories she could tell next. Now, they won’t happen. Though the fans have always found ways to get Lucasfilm to tell once-planned stories in different ways, such as with the #SaveCloneWars campaign that resulted in a subsequent season of the show on Disney+, the particular influence that the fandom once had doesn’t seem as powerful any longer. It’s harder to imagine a #SaveTheAcolyte campaign given the logistical challenges of casting and filming live-action TV.

More importantly, there’s a chilling feeling with this cancellation—a sense of genuine foreboding. “The Acolyte” was far from a perfect show. It had pacing issues, some tonal inconsistencies, and character motivations that seemed to change on a dime. But it was also the most ambitious and exciting “Star Wars” series since Season 1 of “Andor.”

“The Acolyte” caused such a stir because it took some big swings: It introduced a coven of queer space witches, added a whole new history to the Sith, and prompted intense speculation about the identity of its Sith Lord. Once the Sith Lord was revealed to be Manny Jacinto’s character, otherwise known as Qimir, it connected him to Darth Plagueis and continued to explore the critical view of the Jedi seen in the prequel trilogy and “The Last Jedi.” This was not just hero-worship but a serious consideration of what happens when genuine spirituality gets co-opted by an organized framework.

It also told stories about new characters in an unexplored part of the “Star Wars” timeline. “The Acolyte” embraced the expansive universe of “Star Wars,” much like “Andor.”

Tony Gilroy didn’t have to worry about cancellation for “Andor” because he only planned for two seasons. “Skeleton Crew” looks ambitious, but there’s concern that it may also be too different for some fans. Other series, like “Ahsoka” and “The Mandalorian,” are “building to something”: The new plotline involving Grand Admiral Thrawn’s war against the New Republic is scheduled to play out across various projects in the years ahead, including the feature film “The Mandalorian and Grogu.”

It’s disheartening that while more familiar “Star Wars” properties endure, the cancellation of “The Acolyte” feels especially bitter. “Star Wars” could offer various types of experiences, but it now seems that a safe, MCU-molded “Star Wars” will likely dominate its future. How can a franchise continue if it only replays its greatest hits or remixes old stories? “Star Wars” appears to have nothing new to say right now.

Source: IndieWire, Deadline