The Acolyte’s Cancellation Continues Disney’s Biggest Star Wars Problem – TheShockNews

This text incorporates spoilers for “Star Wars: The Acolyte”

We collect right here right this moment to mourn the passing of “Star Wars: The Acolyte,” a present taken from us nicely earlier than its time. In life, it confronted many challenges — review-bombing, uneven writing, and the sweaty rage of the YouTube Grifter Bigot Industrial Advanced. It wasn’t an ideal present. Removed from it, “The Acolyte” acquired a spread of legitimate criticisms, from pacing points to a lackluster first half. However by the top of its first (and now, solely) season, it constructed actual momentum. Manny Jacinto confirmed up and murdered half a dozen Jedi in a number of the greatest lightsaber motion the franchise has ever seen. There was lustful darkish facet seduction, a nuanced dialogue of the Jedi Order, and a bunch of implausible performances from the likes of Jodie Turner-Smith, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Lee Jung-jae.

Most significantly, although, “The Acolyte” gave us one thing new. New characters, new planets, new concepts and views on a well-known universe, and a various solid and crew of recent creatives lending their experiences and expertise to the franchise. None of that may proceed now, and it’s a disgrace, but it surely additionally isn’t the primary time that Disney has minimize the twine on a “Star Wars” undertaking on the first signal of uneven waters.

Proper-wing speaking heads are already celebrating the top of a present that they beforehand ridiculed for daring to prioritize non-white, non-straight tales. It brings to thoughts the aftermath of “The Final Jedi,” which sparked an identical firestorm amongst routine malcontents. That backlash resulted in “The Rise of Skywalker,” a movie that attempted so laborious to be inoffensive that it got here out simply feeling bland. By canceling “The Acolyte,” Disney could possibly be falling into the identical lure once more.

The intuition to cancel costly streaming collection after lackluster first-season viewership isn’t a phenomenon distinctive to “Star Wars” or Disney+. It’s grow to be a pillar of the streaming enterprise mannequin. Exhibits like “Breaking Dangerous” that thrived for years on a standard TV manufacturing mannequin gave delivery to the fashionable streaming panorama, turning “binge-watching” right into a quarterly earnings bullet level. The irony is that authentic streaming collection not often final lengthy sufficient to realize the amount these exhibits wanted to grow to be binge-able within the first place. And for the few that do, ever-elongating manufacturing schedules and ballooning budgets imply followers are steadily ready two years between eight-episode seasons.

None of that is conducive to the form of expansive, interconnected worldbuilding that made “Star Wars” a worldwide phenomenon to start with. “The Phantom Menace” was panned by critics and lots of followers, and “Assault of the Clones” was maligned much more. However with out George Lucas’ perseverance and authorial willpower to stay to his weapons, “Star Wars” may need by no means grow to be the form of franchise value $4 billion to Disney.

Within the wake of “The Acolyte” getting canceled, followers on social media have urged that “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” may by no means have seen a Season 2 both had it been made within the present streaming period. The beloved animated collection acquired six seasons below Lucas and a seventh with Disney, but it surely struggled to search out its id within the early years, as many exhibits do.

Whereas Disney has produced a ton of recent “Star Wars” content material since buying Lucasfilm a decade in the past, the corporate has sometimes been hesitant to take huge dangers. “The Final Jedi” is likely one of the 20 highest-grossing films of all time, however the polarizing response from a sure subset of followers urged the studio to embrace a safer, much less authentic angle for “The Rise of Skywalker” — a call that would not save that movie from mediocrity. “The Clone Wars” took three or 4 seasons to essentially discover its footing. Disney hasn’t put out a theatrical “Star Wars” launch since 2019, although many tasks have been introduced after which canceled.

The few strands that appear to have lasted are likely to lean closely on nostalgia. “The Mandalorian,” which can carry the franchise again to cinemas in 2026, has been Disney’s largest streaming hit with the franchise, and it’s grow to be more and more loaded with deepfakes, cameos, and return journeys to Tatooine. The “Ahsoka” collection, which is getting a Season 2, has some authentic concepts however is extra centered on re-canonizing outdated EU plots and giving Hayden Christensen new lightsaber choreography. I can’t fault Lucasfilm for the latter — I imply, it’s Hayden — and hey, Thrawn is a compelling villain. There’s “Skeleton Crew” coming later this yr. “Andor” Season 2 is across the nook.

“Star Wars” isn’t devoid of recent angles or high quality tales, however the sense of timidness stays. And when canceling a promising undertaking additionally emboldens the “followers” to harass its Black, queer star? It seems like pandering to a mob that doesn’t truly wish to be gained over.

We will speak all day about why “The Acolyte” was canceled. It misplaced viewers because the season went on regardless of a powerful begin. A vocal minority of haters dominated the discourse till Qimir’s arms drowned them out (rightly so). And so forth. and many others. However the extra necessary determine could also be an older one — particularly, one from a 2022 YouGov survey on streaming tendencies. Amongst different issues, the research analyzed how the excessive threat of untimely cancellations prevents folks from getting invested in exhibits to start with. Practically half of the adults surveyed mentioned they’d probably wait till a present was utterly completed earlier than beginning it, fearing the story would get minimize off within the center.

Each streaming subscriber right this moment is aware of that anxiousness. Look to your left, look to your proper, neither of these exhibits will probably be right here subsequent fall. In a singular franchise like “Star Wars,” the injury could also be even higher. What’s the impact on canon if deliberate tales don’t comply with by way of? How does the universe develop and develop if we preserve beginning over from sq. one?

There may be such a factor as being too protecting of an IP, like that fancy maple syrup you’re so afraid to make use of that it goes rotten at the back of the fridge. Within the case of “The Acolyte,” Disney is probably going extra involved in quarterly margins than the preservation of sci-fi lore. However when that lore is the rationale folks preserve displaying up for the franchise you paid billions of {dollars} for, the identical techniques of short-term risk-cutting could cause extra hurt than good. Worry results in stagnation, and whereas I nonetheless love “Star Wars,” all of us endure when new concepts don’t get the time to determine themselves out.