It’s obvious why The Acolyte was canceled, and it isn’t any “woke agenda”
Lucasfilm/DisneyIt’s been a tumultuous ride for Leslye Headland’s The Acolyte, and sadly it’s a ride that has come to an end. But why has the Star Wars show been axed?
In the canon of upcoming Star Wars movies and TV shows, The Acolyte has been a point of contention. We loved it (you can read our review to get Dexerto’s full thoughts), but that feeling didn’t translate for many fans.
Alas, it comes as little surprise to learn that the new TV show has been canceled – despite showrunner Headland hoping for a three-season run.
But what went wrong in the Star Wars timeline for this to happen? Here’s what you need to know about The Acolyte’s cancellation and the complaints surrounding it.
Why was The Acolyte canceled?
Simply put, The Acolyte wasn’t popular enough with fans to sustain a second season, although it fared much better with critics. It also had a huge budget, which wasn’t justified by its performance.
The huge disparity between the two is clearest on Rotten Tomatoes. The critic score stands at a respectable 78%, while the fan score trails behind at a meager 18%.
However, why The Acolyte tanked with fans so hardly remains unclear. There’s undoubtedly a large percentage of reviewing bombing thanks to the TV show’s “woke agenda” – more on that later – but others didn’t like how it fits into existing Star Wars lore.
Headland’s vision of early High Republic Era Star Wars essentially changes core principles that were considered bonafide facts. The biggest of these is the existence of Sith, which the Jedi Order had largely believed were extinct at this time (cast your mind back to Episode I).
Our hunky villain Qimir dispelled that rumor by operating covertly as Mae’s master, then essentially converting twin sister Osha over to the dark side too.
Lucasfilm/DisneyThat’s not all. Fans got a glimpse of Darth Plagueis – the Sith Lord rumored to be an origin point for creating life – humbly looking on after learning of the twins’ mysterious existence. Despite Palpatine’s tragic speech in Revenge of the Sith, it seems Mother Aniseya might have been the actual origin of life’s creation.
Little details like this piled up over The Acolyte’s eight episodes and tainted the existing Star Wars timeline, and they haven’t always been received positively.
On top of this, there was a hefty cost. The Acolyte’s original budget was $180 million, meaning the return on investment wasn’t there – especially when you look at its viewership.
The Acolyte viewership figures
The Acolyte started by drawing 5 million viewers on its first day, extending to 11.1 million in its first few days. After that, things went downhill, becoming the lowest-viewed Star Wars finale of all time.
Lucasfilm/DisneyAs one helpful Redditor points out, The Acolyte was already lagging in viewership figures against all but one Star Wars TV show (The Book of Boba Fett, which was also canceled after one season) after its first episode was released. By the time three episodes had dropped, nothing changed.
The Acolyte’s debut racked up 488 million minutes viewed, around half of what The Mandalorian Season 3 (823 million minutes) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (1,026 million minutes) garnered.
Its figures dipped to 370 million minutes after The Acolyte Episode 3 aired. As another comparison, Andor had racked up 624 million minutes by this same point, with even Boba Fett overtaking with 467 million minutes at the same milestone.
By the season finale, this brought its average viewership down to 7.27 million, compared to The Mandalorian Season 3’s 22.23 million and Obi-Wan’s 14.7 million.
“Woke” complaints started before the series began
Claims of The Acolyte being “woke” emerged with its first trailer, with far-right critics slamming the show before it even aired.
Lucasfilm/DisneyWe’ve already discussed the “wokebaiting” involved in The Acolyte, but let’s bring you up to speed.
As stated on one Reddit thread, fans quickly accused the show’s plot of being “woke” and “steeped in feminism,” with other complaints pointing to the diverse ethnicities featured in the cast. The same could be said for its LGBTQIA+ representation.
As one user put it: “Obvious pandering ruins every story regardless of how good the script is. All of this dumb sh*t just make people go the other way.”
Its first trailer was flooded with “woke” accusations, and The Acolyte was stuck with this label until the end, even leading to review-bombing that brought its average scores down across several websites.
Following its cancelation, a conflict has emerged between fans who were genuinely invested in The Acolyte’s storytelling and those who believe it was canceled for statistical and technical issues alone.
“The biggest tragedy of The Acolyte getting canceled is that it gives users like this an excuse to be smug and act like their bulls**t anti-woke ‘criticisms’ were valid,” one user posted on X/Twitter.
Another disagreed: “The Acolyte wasn’t canceled because it was “woke” or because of “incels”. It was canceled because it was the lowest-viewed Star Wars show on Disney+ and it cost a fortune to make.”
The Acolyte’s data speaks for itself
Before the female-led The Acolyte, there was Ahsoka – but why are the two polar opposites? We’ve broken down the differences in sentiment, engagement, and online mentions from their debuts to season finales.
Ahsoka and The Acolyte’s online reaction
Let’s look at online reactions first. The Acolyte’s negative reception started long before the series debuted as we’ve touched on, but continued to outweigh any positivity the entire time it was on screen. By the time the finale aired, negativity skyrocketed – and now it’s been canceled, it’s unlikely it’ll recover.
Meanwhile, Ahsoka’s reaction was not only more consistent but also much more positive. While neutrality on the series reigned supreme, negative reactions made up the minority of feedback.
Mentions
Unsurprisingly, the trajectory of each show’s mentions echoes fans’ sentiments. Ahsoka was far from perfect, but its mentions steadily increased as the series continued to air. This tapered off towards the end of the series, but given broader TV trends (hype starts at the beginning), this is to be expected.
The Acolyte had a much rockier ride. Mentions were on a downward trajectory from the get-go, spiking around Episode 3 – which we know was widely disliked – and again at the finale. Trouble is, most of these mentions were likely scathing takedowns.
Engagement
That brings us to engagement… and you probably already know what’s coming. Ahsoka followed the same soft curve as its mentions, mostly discussed on X and TikTok (in much higher volume, too). While X typically provides a bigger cross-section of opinion, Ahsoka largely avoided Reddit, where the bulk of The Acolyte’s negative reaction came from.
X and Reddit took the reins for The Acolyte’s engagement, but it drastically dropped by Episode 5, before ramping back up again for Episode 8 – however, this is when things got a bit nasty, with the show attracting a lot of flak from its most vocal critics.
Let’s not forget the context for all of this: Ahsoka had around 200 million minutes more views per episode than The Acolyte did. It also earned an audience score of 64% on Rotten Tomatoes, a big difference compared to The Acolyte’s 18%. Whatever way you approach it, the data isn’t in The Acolyte’s favor.
All eight episodes of The Acolyte are available to stream now. Continue to jump into hyperspace with everything we know about Skeleton Crew and Tales of the Jedi Season 2.
For big-screen adventures in the galaxy, look ahead to Star Wars movies like New Jedi Order, Dawn of the Jedi, or the Lando movie.