‘The Acolyte’ cancellation is just the beginning as ‘Star Wars’ fans think they know what Disney Plus is coming for next

RIP The Acolyte, we hardly knew ye. Thank you for casting Lee Jung-jae as a Jedi, introducing “Lesbian Space Witches” into the internet’s lexicon, and for giving us Jason Mendoza from The Good Place as a yassified Kylo Ren.

Tragically, a season 2 was not to be, as Disney Plus has chosen to cancel its most recent Star Wars show. While other recent series from that galaxy far, far away have also concluded after one season (i.e. The Book of Boba Fett), it was because they were intended to be miniseries, meaning The Acolyte is arguably the first-ever TV show in the juggernaut Star Wars universe to be cancelled. So why is a splashy, flashy production starring popular actors like Amandla Stenberg, Dafne Keen, and Manny Jacinto, from the mind of award-winning Russian Doll alum Lesye Headland, the one to suffer this ignominious fate? If you ask X, it’s all thanks to the trolls.

Perhaps more than any Star Wars show before it, The Acolyte was pummeled by online hate and review-bombing, so much so that you’d swear Brie Larson and/or Rachel Zegler made a cameo in it. For daring to commit such heinous acts as *checks notes* having female protagonists and LGBTQ supporting characters, The Acolyte was burned to the ground in certain angry internet circles, and it seems the haters have won. That doesn’t bode well for the next Lucasfilm enterprise, which some think is destined for a similarly swift demise.

Coming this December is Skeleton Crew, from Spider-Man: No Way Home director Jon Watts and starring Jude Law. With its family-friendly tone and young cast ⏤ which sets it apart from the Skywalker saga ⏤ this one could be equally open to attack, especially as The Acolyte antis will feel emboldened by their “victory” over this recent cancellation.

Haters are already criticizing the use of a suburban-style setting (never mind that this perfectly suits the Amblin vibes the show’s going for).

Let the hate flow through YouTube.

Let’s hope these young actors don’t have to suffer the toxic side of the Star Wars fandom in the same way poor Jake “Young Anakin” Lloyd did.

What’s really dispiriting about The Acolyte‘s cancellation in a macro sense is that this sends a clear message that Disney only wants to explore the safest tracks when it comes to this franchise.

Knowing that even a Death Star-sized IP like Star Wars isn’t safe from the cancel-happy world of streaming is seriously affecting fans’ abilities to get excited for Skeleton Crew.

Just when you thought the Skywalkers’ stranglehold on the franchise was waning, it goes and Force-chokes it once again…

To be fair to Lucasfilm, it’s difficult to say just how much the online hate contributed to The Acolyte‘s early demise. The ultimate reason was its poor performance in the Nielsen ratings, as it dropped out of the weekly top 10 after its pilot episode, only returning to the list for its finale. Was the review-bombing and negative energy responsible for turning people away from the series? Or are streamers genuinely only interested in familiar faces like Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, and now Mando and Grogu? Either way, Skeleton Crew had better hope that Jude Law’s jawline is enough to entice enough people to watch come this Dec. 3, or else The Acolyte won’t be an anomaly.