The American Sci-fi Star Wars television show ‘The Acolyte’ premiered on Disney Plus with two episodes on June 4, 2024. It consisted of 8 episodes that ran until July 16, 2024. Initially, the series was hugely praised by the audience, and that’s why it sits in the 7th position on the Top 10 chart of the streaming platform. However, the show’s viewership started declining in the third week.
Since then, The Acolyte has received more criticism than appreciation. Despite coming with some of the best action sequences, the show had to suffer a lot of social media toxicity. Well, it looks like Disney finally acknowledged the community’s response to The Acolyte – as per recent reports, Disney has cancelled the 8-episodic Star Wars series just after the first season.
The TV show bombed so badly that it’s currently sitting on an IMDB rating of 4.1. Given the ratings, it makes sense why the Disney Plus series will not continue. However, what’s truly surprising is that while some fans are satisfied with the decision, there’s a part of the community that wants the show to get renewed. This part of the Star Wars community believes that the franchise wanted this sort of uniqueness in the stories. In fact, these fans want the show to get another season so badly that they got “#RenewTheAcolyte” trending on Twitter.
X has been bombarded by Star Wars fans with tweets showcasing their disappointment with the news about the cancellation of the TV show. A user tweeted, ‘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. But a bunch of babies couldn’t handle that and now we’ll be stuck with more of the same forever.’
Another user shared, ‘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. It’s not my favourite piece of Star Wars content but it certainly didn’t deserve to be axed.’
Despite the show's cancellation, it’s essential to recognize that The Acolyte had its moments. The narrative attempted to explore deeper stories within the Star Wars universe, and while it faced backlash, many fans appreciated the fresh directions the series sought to take. The journey of The Acolyte serves as a reminder of the challenges faced in modern storytelling, especially within established franchises.
As we move forward, it’s hoped that Disney Plus will continue to explore new narratives within the Star Wars universe, embracing innovation while also considering audience feedback. The fate of The Acolyte may have been sealed, but its impact on discussions about representation and storytelling in the Star Wars franchise will likely resonate for some time.
