This week, it was reported that the latest Star Wars show, The Acolyte, had been canceled by Lucasfilm after only one season. After the news broke, a plethora of fans took to the Internet to express their disappointment with the decision. It seems that proponents of the show aren’t the only ones speaking out now, though. Detractors of the series are sharing their opinions as well, and they’re not mincing words. The result ultimately seems to be a significant amount of horrific trolling at the expense of the axed science-fiction series.
A sizable amount of these posts can be found across social media platforms, which is where fans and critics alike shared their thoughts on the series regularly during its eight-episode run. In the aftermath of the cancellation, though, it would seem that a number of detractors have taken to the Instagram page of Amandla Stenberg – the lead of The Acolyte’s cast. The commenters specifically took to the comment section of Stenberg’s post about the show’s finale. You can get a sense of the trolling from several of the comments, which can be seen down below:
- Your character sucks. Stay away from Star Wars please – @stationofsevastopol
- Finally this hell is over. – @bgan.bng
- Congratulations on the cancelation of this TERRIBLE THING. Now I hope you do something of value without identy politics. GET WOKE GO BROKE, BABY!! 🔥 – @pabloarcadia
- Thank god this show is cancelled 😂 – @coop__nyc
During (and before) the Star Wars offshoot’s premiere, various users took to Rotten Tomatoes, where it was review-bombed. Some of the people who commented derided the show for being “woke,” in a similar fashion to the post-cancellation comments shown above. With that, the series currently holds a 18% audience rating on RT, which marks a stark difference from its 78% critics score.
Amandla Stenberg notably received backlash throughout the show’s run. Back in June, she was trolled after a resurfaced interview clip was circulated by critics of Acolyte. Said video was taken from Stenberg’s 2018 appearance on The Daily Show, with pundits sharing a specific moment in which she seemingly mentioned a goal of hers being to make white people cry. In actuality, the comments (which were wrongly deemed as her thoughts on the Star Wars show) were taken out of context. At the time, host Trevor Noah asked Stenberg – who was promoting The Hate U Give – “what do you want people to walk away with,” in regard to the movie, which was about police brutality. Stenberg then said, “”Well, white people crying actually was the goal.”
Even though there were review-bombing efforts, the since-canceled Lucasfilm production did amass a solid fanbase during its run. From that fandom, sprang the #RenewTheAcolyte trend. That positivity seems to still be intact since the show received the ax. Fans also took to Amandla Stenberg’s Instagram post to express kind thoughts. Some also went to IG to share similar sentiments under a post of Stenberg’s co-star, Manny Jacinto (who went viral as the show aired and was dubbed the new Kylo Ren):
- I think you were awesome in the Acolyte! I’m sorry it got cancelled. I looked it and a big part of that was you. Hang in there and don’t listen to the haters. – @phenson65
- You’re so amazing in the show Amandla, you should be so proud 🥹💕 – @hellajerica
- Y’all deserved better. Hope wtv y’all work on in the future is more appreciated than what Star Wars fan ever gave you. – @hidoradoraa
- So crushed. So many of want to see the next chapter! Y’all absolutely killed it, keep that head up high! – @samdoesntsmile
The enduring positivity aside, many still seem to be bummed that the Leslye Headland-created show received the boot. Some have argued since then that Star Wars fans are losing faith in the brand and that Lucasfilm should consider that. What seems to have a number of devotees particularly discouraged is the notion of storylines likely not being resolved. That includes Osha and Qimir’s new partnership and the involvement of Yoda (who cameoed) during the finale. Whether any of these loose ends are tied up down the road is unknown. In the meantime, though, it appears likely that fans will continue trolling the series while others campaign for its revival.
You can check out all eight episodes of The Acolyte for yourself by streaming them with a Disney+ subscription. At present, you can also read up on upcoming Star Wars TV shows and movies.