The Acolyte Creator Wants to Return for Season 2
And There Is More Fan Support Than Some Would Like to Admit
The Acolyte is one of the most divisive projects to come out of Star Wars in recent years. However, despite the controversy surrounding the series, support for it has never completely disappeared.
An ongoing fan campaign continues to push for a second season, actors such as Manny Jacinto have spoken about wanting to return and now creator Leslye Headland has once again expressed interest in returning to the story.
In a recent interview with Empire, Headland discussed the possibility of revisiting The Acolyte and the stories she had planned to explore:
“As more people discover it, I think people may want to see some form of the story come back.” While a chapter of the story closed at the end of the season, Headland is clear on where she wanted to go next.
“We did have a lot of stuff that we wanted to explore including tying in lore to the sequels,” she teases. “Getting into who exactly Manny’s character is, his connection with [Jedi Master] Vernestra, his connection with Plagueis, and then his connection with other sequel-established things.
Headland also reflected on how fan reactions to Star Wars projects can change over time:
“The weather changes with Star Wars. There was a real negative reaction to [the Prequels], especially from a particular generation. And 25 years later, Hayden is at Celebration.”
Notably, even author James Luceno expressed disappointment that Headland did not get the opportunity to continue the series. Luceno, best known for his Star Wars novels and for writing Darth Plagueis, shared his thoughts on the show’s cancellation.
He stated:
“She might have been able to go even deeper into the Dark Side.”
You can read more and watch the full video at the link here.
There is clearly support for The Acolyte, and I believe Disney made a mistake by canceling it after just one season. Star Wars has a long history of projects being re-evaluated over time.
The backlash against the Prequel Trilogy didn't stop George Lucas from moving forward with The Clone Wars movie, nor did it prevent The Clone Wars television series from being produced. In fact, that series went on to become one of the most beloved entries in the franchise.
While I do have one criticism of The Acolyte: the eight-episode format didn't leave enough room to properly explore characters like Darth Plagueis and Yoda.
Their appearances generated excitement, but because they only appeared briefly and there wasn't enough time to develop those storylines, it opened the door for critics to dismiss them as cameos meant to distract fans and little more than shiny keys being jingled in our faces.
If you want to see more of The Acolyte, I made a poll!
That show was fun, it was cool to have something a little different, was disappointed it got cancelled over a bunch of racists crying in their blue milk.
Nuances aside, such a great era to explore and the characters were both intriguing and fights were well executed, particularly the big one! I am so up for more.