The Acolyte: Cancelled! So What Doomed The Star Wars Spinoff?(Hint: A Lot)

Disney cancelling Star Wars: The Acolyte, sadly, comes with little surprise. (If you weren’t aware,  you can read our report on the cancellation HERE.) Despite a number of franchise highlights (the lightsaber battles, for instance), the show struggled mightily to find it’s footing in the greater galaxy far, far away. So what ultimately did the series in? Well, since you didn’t ask us but we’re going to tell you anyway, here are some thoughts.

First and foremost, showrunner Leslye Headland was out of her element. Yes, she garnered great success with Netflix’s Russian Doll. Notwithstanding, she never could quite find her way within the Lucasfilm franchise. Her now-infamously reported decision to hire a writer for The Acolyte who’d never seen any of Star Wars has certainly come back to bite her. Some people just aren’t quite cut out for Star Wars (see also: Rian Johnson.) As a result, like The Last Jedi, the series was often plagued by poor writing. In the end, it just didn’t resonate with enough fans and viewers.

What doomed Star Wars: The Acolyte?

Unfortunately, the poor and jumbled writing resulted in a series that just couldn’t decide what it wanted to be. Was it a redemption story? A fall from grace story? Or an empathetic allegory for a Jedi (Sol) doing the wrong things for the right reasons? Even now, I’m not quite sure what the overall point of The Acolyte was meant to me. One thing we do know is that it wasted the exceptional efforts of the show’s indisputable heart and soul, actor Lee Jung-jae (Sol). When fans are more invested in a secondary player instead of the lead…. Well, that’s never a good sign for a series.

Another nail in the Acolyte coffin was arguably the decision to paint the Jedi in such negative hues….  Sol’s character arc being the exception. Headland otherwise took it to the extreme, portraying the Jedi as evil, conniving, deceitful conspirators. And dragging beloved Star Wars character Yoda into it? Just… no. Any time you take something to the extreme, whether in entertainment, politics, or ideology, you’re going to get backlash.  In this case it was too great to overcome.

So long, Plagueis

Perhaps the worst part the latest studio mishandling of a Star Wars spinoff is the lost Plagueis potential. We final got to see the enigmatic Sith Lord in live-action, only to have him ripped away. That is a huge opportunity now wasted. As much as fans failed to rally behind The Acolyte, many if not most still wanted it to continue if for no other reason than to see more of Plagueis. Taking that away is not going to endear Disney to Star Wars fans already, generally displeased with the direction in which Disney’s Star Wars has gone. To the contrary, it may only deepen the divide. What makes this whole situation even stranger is the fact that Disney continues to heavily market the show on social media…. A truly weird flex when they just unceremoniously cancelled the series.

Still, Skeleton Crew is coming up in December, and we have Andor Season 2 premiering early next year. That show, at least, the house of mouse got right. All air on Disney+.