Acolyte
Fans continue to rally to try to save The Acolyte from being canceled by Disney, which has now spread to a number of media outlets writing pieces about how this was a mistake by Disney (disclaimer: I’m one of those media outlets). The move both surrenders to a toxic “anti-Awakening” fan base, while also demonstrating that Disney lacks the ability to commit to meaningfully expanding outside of the increasingly stagnant Skywalker era.
Now cast members are also speaking out about the cancellation of The Acolyte with reactions ranging from bewilderment to outright annoyance. The first is the diplomatic but confused Lee Jung-jae, one of the stars of the first season who was killed off (spoilers) in the finale. Even if he didn’t come back, he wanted to live on the show and was surprised that he wouldn’t come back. Here he is talking to EW.
“Personally, I really enjoyed Leslye’s writing. I thought she was an excellent writer and director who was very talented at storytelling as well as creating characters and creating meaningful structures within the story. So I personally couldn’t wait to see a second season with him in the lead.”
“Honestly, I hope that maybe there can be changes in the future,” says Lee. “Because you never know what’s going to happen. So on a personal level, I really hope we can get to see more of Leslye’s second season story.”
He seems to believe that it’s not impossible that Disney could bring him back, or perhaps continue the story in a different way, but Disney has been completely silent on all of this, letting the news trickle out into the trade rather than addressed directly.
Acolyte
Then there’s Rebecca Henderson, who not only played Vernestra in the show, she’s also married to Leslye Headland, its lead.
While she didn’t comment directly, she posted a series of stories clipping things like Rolling Stone’s story about Star Wars being able to survive its “worst fans” and a tweet about “which part of fan base Disney listened” and how Disney should “stop giving in to the pressure and stand up.”
There is no indication that Disney canceled The Acolyte because it was being bombarded and shouted down on YouTube. Again, the ultimate answer is likely to be cost versus viewability. But there was no reason the show had to cost $180 million in the first place, and there had to be a way to get to a second season to resolve the plotlines and ensure that the concept of live-action content To the High Republic not to die. And the end result was still… toxic fans celebrating anyway, even if they weren’t the driving force behind the cancellation. That’s still the message it sends, however, even to its own cast, which Disney did nothing to publicly support amid massive backlash as it premiered.
We may hear from more cast members in the coming days. Amandla Stenberg previously posted a music video she wrote and filmed as a direct response to her “haters,” but she has yet to say or post anything about the cancellation. Qimir actor Manny Jacinto posted the latest photo of him and Stenberg holding hands with just a heart. A calm, if not profoundly sad reaction.
I don’t think it’s entirely impossible for Disney to change course here. Stranger things have happened, and if everyone from the actors to the media to the fans are angry enough about it, they might take notice. After all, season 2 was only supposed to air a month ago. The toxic group of fans who would be upset are angry about everything all the time anyway, so who cares about them. That takes a “win” out there, and god knows that’s what Star Wars needs to do at this point that this set makes it nearly impossible to discuss or especially appreciate almost anything in modern Star Wars.
Disney is silent. They were silent during the harassment. They have been silent about the cancellation. Hopefully they won’t stay silent after hearing the voices that aren’t screaming for a better way forward here.
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