Star Wars: The Acolyte introduced new ideas based around the ‘High Republic’ era of Star Wars lore, but after one season, it was cancelled, and fans have reacted.
This week, it has been revealed that the newest entry into Star Wars lore, Disney+’s Star Wars: The Acolyte, has been cancelled. The series was set roughly 100 years before the prequel trilogy of films, starting with The Phantom Menace, during the High Republic era of Star Wars lore. CGMagazine’s review of the first four episodes calls it “a captivating first on-screen look at the pre-Prequel era.”
The cancellation of Star Wars: The Acolyte comes as a bit of a surprise considering the cliffhanger the finale left viewers on, but during the entire runtime, fans have been incredibly vocal about their disdain for the season. Now that Disney has announced the show’s cancellation, fans may have shifted gears a bit.
During the season’s run, many outspoken critics on the internet blasted the season for retconning an entire leg of Star Wars by introducing two more characters that were ‘birthed’ by the force (Anakin Skywalker was said to be the first and only). YouTube-based critics like Mike Zeroh and The Critical Drinker followed along with the season, posting negative reviews about each episode as it happened. But now that Star Wars: The Acolyte has been cancelled, fans may have changed course.
Users have taken to X (formerly Twitter) to grieve the loss of the show, with user captaincupkicks saying, “Cancelling The Acolyte is one of the worst decisions ever. It was a series that was finally pushing Star Wars into new fresh directions and was set up for an even better second season” lamenting the idea Star Wars will likely not attempt another risky venture into the backend of its lore. Another user, alecsm7, says, “The Acolyte being cancelled is just another example of toxic internet hate. The show never got a chance to breathe, and half the people hating on it never even watched an episode,” blasting reviewers that pined on hatred for the newly introduced ideas.
On the other hand, fans who loathed Star Wars: The Acolyte took to the same platform to celebrate the cancellation, and others have tried to remain neutral while suggesting poor budgeting could be the culprit behind the show’s cancellation. Brad Stephenson writes, “The Acolyte wasn’t cancelled because it was “woke” or because of “incels”. It was cancelled because it was the lowest-viewed Star Wars show on Disney+ and it cost a fortune to make,” alleging the money wasn’t there for the show.
Either way, the latest Star Wars: The Acolyte TV series has called its curtain after one season. Fans can check it out on Disney+, or head over to the official Star Wars Reddit to get in on the conversation.
