After plenty of hype and three episodes of the new Star Wars series The Acolyte, the fans have spoken and almost universally rejected the latest canonical addition to the galaxy far, far away. The show’s third episode proved particularly divisive among the fanbase, who took to social media to reaffirm that Disney had broken the franchise to its core.
In the past, Disney has resorted to playing the victim card and accusing toxic fan culture for the poor or mixed reception of its Star Wars entries. However, amidst the almost universal rejection of The Acolyte and the fanbase’s unity in disliking the series, Disney must admit that their approach to new stories in the space opera franchise is broken and needs course correction.
Star Wars Fans Discuss The Acolyte Breaking the George Lucas Franchise to its Core
Created by Leslye Headland, The Acolyte recently premiered its third episode, which was almost instantly disliked by the fans for breaking existing lore and not even remotely resembling the core aspects of the George Lucas franchise, which made it a hit in the first place.
On X (formerly Twitter), @realswtheory, aka Star Wars Theory, reacted to the fanbase almost unanimously disliking the new addition to the Star Wars canon. The user wrote:
I haven’t seen the Star Wars community so united since Mando 2 finale. This is wild. The power of one. The power of many.
Following the initial tweet, several fans came forward to share their reactions to The Acolyte‘s failure to connect with the fanbase and a wider audience. Here is what fans had to say about The Acolyte falling flat on X.
I really hate that it took Star Wars basically dying for it to happen, but at least Star Wars fans are united more or less
The divide between real star wars fans, and Disney SW fans, has never been more crystal clear
— Justin (@Justin__NC) June 15, 2024
retconing anakin's prophecy is a line that can't be crossed.
They already retconned it in rise of Skywalker. This is just insult to injury.
— AndrewK✝️ (@DKlipps) June 15, 2024
Acolyte is good for one thing…memes 🤣 That show is the biggest joke ever
— Dustin Straight (@Carnage2469) June 15, 2024
Weird hill for Star Wars to die on, but at least it’s dead
— John A. Douglas (@BlkCrownAuthor) June 16, 2024
Least it brought us together bro. Not what they wanted.
— The Angry Badger (@TheAngryBadger3) June 15, 2024
As the tweets indicate, the Star Wars fanbase has been united by their mutual dislike of the new series and its mistreatment of canon lore.
Furthermore, the tweets suggest that most fans believe the space opera franchise is on its last legs and The Acolyte is to be blamed for the same. Therefore, it is evident that the series has done irrevocable damage to the franchise and shattered it to its very core that fans no longer recognize it as the same entity Lucas created.
Disney Can No Longer Play the Victim Card After Star Wars: The Acolyte Debacle
Disney acquired the Star Wars franchise from George Lucas in 2012, to produce new entries in the galaxy far, far away. However, a majority of the entries produced under Disney have received mixed to negative reactions from critics and fans alike.
For instance, The Acolyte currently holds an abysmal audience rating of 15% on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. As a result, the fan dislike for the series is evident. However, in the past, Disney has blamed the fanbase’s alleged toxicity for the poor reception of their Star Wars content.
Ahead of The Acolyte‘s premiere, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy argued that many of the creatives, especially women, faced online harassment from the predominantly male fanbase of the franchise. Therefore, Disney has portrayed itself as the victim when fans react negatively to its content.
On the other hand, the fan discourse surrounding The Acolyte has more to do with the quality of storytelling than the talent attached, which makes it difficult for Disney to play the victim card. Therefore, Disney must admit that they have broken the franchise after seeing the unanimous rejection of The Acolyte from the Star Wars fanbase.
The Acolyte is streaming on Disney+.
