‘I Felt Like OK, the Writing’s on the Wall for Sure’ — Leslye Headland Has Accepted Disney’s Decision to Cancel Star Wars Show the Acolyte After Season 1, Even if She’s Still Sad About It

The Acolyte creator Leslye Headland has reflected on the cancelation of the Disney+ series after just one season, pointing to the significant impact Star Wars content creators had on the discussion around the show.

Star Wars owner Disney canceled The Acolyte after Season 1, leaving a number of plot threads, chief among them the dramatic first appearance of Darth Plagueis in live-action form, dangling, perhaps never to be resolved.

Since the cancelation, a number of actors who appeared in The Acolyte have said they still hope for a Season 2. In December last year, Manny Jacinto, who played Qimir, said Darth Plagueis would have had a bigger role in further seasons of The Acolyte, but didn’t reveal too much because “we could come back.”

Meanwhile, Sol actor Lee Jung-Jae has said he was “quite surprised” to hear The Acolyte wouldn’t get a second season, which Headland was thinking about even before Season 1 premiered. Others, including Black female lead Amandla Stenberg, have said they weren’t shocked by the cancellation. “I’m going to be transparent and say that it’s not a huge shock for me,” she said. “I was in the bubble of my own reality, but for those who aren’t aware there’s been a rampage of vitriol that we’ve faced since the show was even announced. When it was still just a concept and no one had even seen it.”

Mother Aniseya actress Jodie Turner-Smith raised this issue too, calling out Disney for not doing enough for the cast who faced waves of racist abuse online. “They’ve got to stop doing this thing where they don’t say anything when people are getting f**king dog-piled on the internet with racism and bulls**t,” she said.

Now, in a new interview with TheWrap, Leslye Headland offered a reaction of her own, admitting she feared The Acolyte was set for the chopping block as online reaction from Star Wars content creators took a turn for the worse.

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“I was not surprised by [the cancellation],” Headland said. “I think I was surprised at the swiftness of it and the publicness of it. I was surprised by how it was handled. But once I was getting particular phone calls about the reaction and the criticism and the viewership, I felt like, ‘OK, the writing’s on the wall for sure.’”

Headland went on to discuss the impact of Star Wars content creators on The Acolyte’s performance, and said Hollywood uses them almost like focus groups.

“The content that is being put out by the streamers or the studios is being snatched up by these other creators, and so commentaries, synopses, live videos, all of the ways that these creators make money — through viewer-based ad revenues and their Patreons — there’s a lot of money to be made,” she said.

“And by the way, have at it. Get your coin 100%. But it revealed to me that there is a misunderstanding between the studios and that engagement. They think of it as fandom, and in ways it is, but studios use it almost like this focus group.”

As a result, Headland predicted a move towards a world where “the content being made about Star Wars will be more culturally impactful than actual Star Wars.”

“I am a Star Wars fan, which means I have always been, since the launch of YouTube, part of the Star Wars recap/criticism/lionization fandom community,” Headland explained. “These guys I’ve known for years and years. So when I got the information from others about what the weather report was, there was this real concern from friends of mine or co-workers of mine that saddened me. I also was like, ‘I know who these guys are.’ You don’t have to tell me who’s talking about it or how bad it is online, I know exactly who they are. I supported them on Patreon.

“There are some of them that I respect, and there are some of them that I think are absolutely snake oil salesmen, just opportunists. Then, of course, there are the fascists and racists. So it runs a gamut. It isn’t just one thing or the other. So I think that if you’re in part of the fandom, you understand the genre and the tone of particular channels and creators. So in some ways I wasn’t surprised, and then in other ways I was disappointed. I think you always do that when you create something, it’s just that Star Wars is on a massive level of visibility.”

Headland also touched on her now-dashed hopes for Season 2, saying “it could have been worth it to allow the audience it was meant for to find it.” Ultimately, she sounds resigned to defeat on The Acolyte, and Disney has made no indication of reversing its decision to cancel the show. “But that wasn’t up to me,” she continued. “So I fully respect the decision, even if I’m sad about it.”

Last month, Headland confirmed The Acolyte would have gone on to feature a connection between The Stranger and villain Kylo Ren. Headland said The Acolyte’s central villain, Qimir also known as The Stranger, would have eventually started The Knights of Ren, the cult the young Kylo Ren joined following his departure from the Jedi. Indeed, The Acolyte would have confirmed The Stranger as the first Knight of Ren.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.