Maybe We Should Wait Longer on the Galaxy Far, Far Away

News recently broke today that The Acolyte, the mini-series but maybe more set during the High Republic era of Star Wars, had been canceled over on Disney+. Although there are websites declaring this “a win for alt-right, toxic fans,” let’s be clear that the main reason the show was canceled was because it just wasn’t very good. As I noted in my review of the series, it was disjointed, weirdly paced, and kept a number of major moments hidden from audiences, using the reveals for shock value moments that both lacked shock and value. It was a massively expensive series (upwards of $100 Mil an episode to make, reportedly) that did not thrill fans or casual viewers. The fact that it was canceled isn’t shocking; what’s shocking is that it took over a month for that decision to even get handed down.

Now, yes, the MRA faction of the fanbase is calling this a win. And yes, they’re a bunch of scummy, toxic trolls. I’m not debating that at all. The cancellation wasn’t just because of them, though. The show was bad.

In fairness to the show there were good ideas that I would have liked to see reworked and carried on into future seasons (or, now, other shows). I think a series set during the High Republic has potential, especially if it can get away from the idea that every prequel in the franchise has to hint at and directly lead to the works we already know. This show seemed like it was set up to answer two things: one, how did Anakin Skywalker come into being as a Force baby and, two, how did Palpatine eventually come into being as a Sith Lord. We can’t just have a series set in a different time period, oh no, it has to be about something we already know. The connections to the works of the main series have, so frequently, been what has dragged down all the DIsney+ works.

Just look at The Mandalorian. The first season was a largely standalone episode that worked on its own merits without feeling the need to connect to the greater universe, and it was better for it. Fans loved it because they got something with familiar trappings while providing a totally new and interesting story. But then the second season tied itself more fully into the main series lore, and the third season was basically there to tie up a loose plot thread from The Clone Wars while also setting up the next threat in Ahsoka. The freewheeling, standalone series was gone and with it disappeared much of the interest from casual fans.

What people want is something interesting and new. It’s why Andor worked (at least for its first season, and everyone has high hopes for the second), because that series stands on its own without trying to tie itself into knots to be, “part of something more.” The Acolyte could have been that, but it instead focused too much on trying to explain things that didn’t need explaining without actually focusing on the story or characters that truly mattered. It wastes so much time faffing around that by the time it builds to a climactic resolution, the audience was already checked out.

The saddest part of the cancellation of this series is that we may never get to see Manny Jacinto’s “Darth Teeth” again. His character, actually named just “The Stranger”, is a really cool Sith Lord who doesn’t seem like your average Sith from the movies and other shows. He has a shadowy backstory that informs his decisions, and there’s more than just pure evil to his actions. Seeing him develop his character, and bring his nuanced performance to future stories, could have been a highlight for the franchise. One has to hope that even if the story of The Acolyte doesn’t continue, we’ll get to see his character again elsewhere.

It’s interesting to note, though, that The Acolyte is one of only two real failures for the franchise so far. Sure, we could pick apart the storytelling of the various films and shows, but just about everything Disney has put out for the franchise has been at least a modest success. There have been only two major bombs so far for the franchise, and the other was Solo. That film performed so poorly at the Box Office that it quashed all Star Wars spin-off films for years (no more Star Wars Stories). Now we have the first cancellation of a Star Wars TV series and it makes you wonder what that means for the franchise.

Disney seems to swerve wildly any time they hit an issue with the franchise. It’s like they’re holding a faberge egg and they feel like if they make any mistake they’re going to break it, so they try everything they can to keep the egg safe. Some fans don’t like The Last Jedi? Then let’s bring back J.J. Abrams and make him do a film that completely retcons everything that happened in that eighth mainline film. Other fans don’t like The Rise of Skywalker? Then let’s just shelve all films completely and shove Star Wars onto TV because we clearly can’t have anything in theaters until we have a guaranteed smash hit again.

Even then, the movies they’re green lighting feel weirdly safe: The Mandalorian and Grogu, spinning off from their series, and a film tying together all the TV shows into a big movie (which just reeks of a massive, The Marvels-level disaster). And then a Rey film for all those fans of her character that somehow still like her after she was dragged back and forth between her three mainline films. It feels like Disney is slapping things against the wall to see what sticks, taking everything fans enjoyed and assuming that’s the ticket to keeping their egg safe.

It does also seem like they’re giving up on TV again. Yes, Mando is getting a movie but there’s no word on any future TV adventures for him, and the spin-off from his show, The Book of Boba Fett was quietly canceled without us even knowing if a second season was even in the plans. Ahsoka is getting a second season, and Andor has a second that should be airing soon, but… then what? Disney will play the hits with the characters it likes, but those have frankly been less than stellar and now it seems like the streamer isn’t even sure if the shows are worth making.

I mean, no, they aren’t. Outside of one season of The Mandalorian and the phenomenal Andor, nothing Disney has done for Star Wars on Disney+ has been good. And, really, we can point to much of what they’ve done since they bought the franchise and go, “well, this was mid.” The movies ranged from decent to bad, the shows have gone much the same, and it’s hard to count even how many works started promising and then fizzled out as they went on. DIsney has had more misses than hits with Star Wars and, just maybe, putting everything to bed for a time would be a good thing. Release the stuff already in production, quietly kill the rest and just let the franchise rest.

I’m not saying we shouldn’t have any more Star Wars ever again but it might just be good to take time off from the Galaxy Far, Far Away so that the ideas can cook and a new generation of creators can come in and do something new and different and bold with the franchise. But then, who are we kidding; Disney has no interest in that. They have to milk the franchise as safely and inoffensively as possible capitulating around in hopes of making what the fans want while hardly ever delivering anything good. Disney will let the franchise go quiet when the studio goes bankrupt, and not a second before. Until that time we’re going to get far more misses like The Acolyte than actual hits. It’s just the way it is.