The cancelation of The Acolyte sent shock waves into the Star Wars fandom, some mystified by the decision, while others felt the writing was on the wall for the controversial series. Not much is known yet as to why Disney ultimately made the decision, but one of the show’s standout actors has recently offered his thoughts on the cancelation, while maintaining some hope that the showrunner’s ideas will appear in some manner in future projects.
The news of The Acolyte’s cancelation was shocking to many fans, including Lee Jung-jae, who portrayed Master Sol in the series. Lee was one of the high points in the divisive show, and played a pivotal role in the climactic events of the series finale. Though his character didn’t survive the finale, he expressed his disappointment to Entertainment Weekly about not being able to see the show continue on for a second season.
“As you know, my character had died already in the first season. So I wouldn’t have appeared in the second season if there was one anyway,” Lee said. “But personally speaking, I really loved Leslye’s writing. I thought that she was a great writer and director who was very talented in the storytelling, as well as creating characters and creating meaningful structures within the story. So I was actually personally really looking forward to watching a season 2 with her at the helm.”
So I was actually personally really looking forward to watching a season 2 with her at the helm.
The series showrunner, Leslye Headland, had previously stated that she was in the dark regarding a potential renewal, though she indicated she had plans for a second season if given the opportunity. Unfortunately, it appears that those plans won’t come to fruition, to the dismay of fans and the cast and crew. Though Lee presumably wouldn’t have returned for a second season, he expressed his shock over the cancelation. “To hear the news, I was quite surprised personally as well,” Lee said. However, the star remains hopeful that the series will still have an impact on future Star Wars stories.
“Honestly, I am hoping that maybe there could be changes in the future,” Lee said. “Because you never know what’s going to happen. So on a personal level, I really hope we could get to see further stories of Leslye’s second season.”
The Acolyte’s Cancelation Provides More Questions for Future Storylines
One of the more unfortunate casualties stemming from the show’s cancelation, are a few of the characters that were setup for the second season at the end of Season 1. The future of Darth Plagueis, who made his on-screen debut in the series finale, is now up in the air. Many fans were excited by the prospect of finally delving into the famed Sith lord, and how his story would connect to The Stranger and Osha. In fact, not being able to see what comes next for Plagueis was a focal point of the #SaveTheAcolyte hashtag that trended on X.
Similarly, the series finale also setup Master Yoda for the second season, which could have potentially added an interesting bridge into the Jedi Order established in the prequels.
Though Disney hasn’t provided any specifics for not continuing the series, there are certainly noticeable factors that could be pointed to for the decision. For one, The Acolyte failed to live up to the viewership numbers that previous Star Wars shows had delivered for Disney+. After the season premiere, viewership numbers seemed to dramatically dip, not even reaching the Nielsen streaming top ten during the week of the series finale. The show was also incredibly divisive. Fair or not, a majority of the news surrounding The Acolyte didn’t deal with the content of the show, but rather the in-fighting among fans. However, social media campaigns to resurrect shows have worked in the past, so it’s entirely possible that the storylines and characters established in the first season could continue on in some capacity.