Although the first season of Disney and Lucasfilm's The Acolyte was met with mixed responses from Star Wars fans, it was still one of the biggest series for Disney+ this year. The contentious season came to a thrilling end this week and after all of the revelations and reveals in the finale, many fans are wondering if we'll be getting a second season.
The Acolyte initially seemed like a miniseries, a one-and-done story set in the High Republic era. But after the events of the season finale, it's clear there's more story to tell. Whether or not fans will get to see this story unfold is the question.
Has The Acolyte been renewed for Season 2?
As of this writing, Disney has not officially renewed The Acolyte for a second season. But it's worth looking at what the show's creators have said about the series' potential future.
Even before the first episode of The Acolyte premiered, showrunner Leslye Headland revealed to Collider, "I definitely pitched it as a multi-season show. There are a lot of things at the end of this season that I think are narrative threads that are not tied up, for sure."
While Headland described herself as a writer "that is not interested in an emotional cliffhanger," she did acknowledge that there plot points left open for possible future storytelling.
Qimir is looking to establish a new iteration of hte Sith, while Vernestra Rwoh is leading the hunt for him. But beyond there, there were plenty of teasers in the finale that could help shape a second season.
One of the stories The Acolyte could further explore is that of Darth Plagueis. The legendary Sith had a very brief cameo in the season finale, which marked the first time fans have ever seen the character brought to life on screen.
And let's also not forget the brief glimpse of a certain green-eared creature in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. A second season could also involve Yoda as well.
The Acolyte Season 2 could be made "pretty quickly"
We don't know exactly how The Acolyte faired longterm for Disney in terms of ratings and viewership. Social media was quite divided, but that's not always an indication as it's usually a vocal minority who are the loudest and most noticable. The fact is, there are a bunch of Star Wars fans who enjoyed The Acolyte for what it is.
The season wasn't perfect by any means. The pacing was off at times and I personally felt that Amandla Stenberg's acting left a lot to be desired. But there were definitely some cool moments — the lightsaber duels were some of the best we've seen in the franchise — and I think you could make the case that The Acolyte deserves a second season.
The good news is that despite Disney moving slowly, if the series does get greenlit fo ra second season, it could be made pretty quickly.
"We could make it pretty quickly," Headland told Collider. "We definitely have a timeline. I have a lot of ideas, and again, a lot of it was stuff that I told Kathleen (Kennedy) early on, in terms of where I would like the season to go, and the conflicts that I see happening, specifically in the second season"
With the story already mapped out — something that sounds quite refreshing after the mess of the sequel trilogy — a lot of the heavy work is seemingly already done.
The Acolyte Season 1 is currently streaming on Disney+.