Disney has just revealed some new viewing numbers for The Acolyte, which only proves why this Star Wars show should have continued!
One of the bigger TV shows of 2024 was The Acolyte. This Star Wars series had a hook as it was set 150 years before the movies, a time when the Jedi were in full power. However, the conflict between two twins (both played by Amandla Stenberg) could expose the threat of a reborn Sith.
The show did have a rather divisive reaction among critics and Star Wars fans. It seemed for every person praising it, another slammed it as awful and accusations of being “review bombed” by a sadly toxic portion of the fandom.
That said, it was still a surprise when Disney+ canceled the show after one season with the plans for Season 2 clearly there. An explanation came that the show’s viewing numbers didn’t justify its high budget. But now, a new report has hurt that narrative.
A new report on streaming shows from Deadline reveals that The Acolyte was the second-most-watched show on Disney+ in 2024. In first place was Percy Jackson and the Olympians, which had 3 billion minutes of viewing, and The Acolyte came in with 2.7 billion.
Meanwhile, Marvel shows Agatha All Along had 2.284 billion minutes, Echo had 1.5 billion and X-Men ‘97 had 1.4 billion.
For some perspective, Season 3 of The Mandalorian averaged 1.1 billion minutes, while the latest Star Wars series, Skeleton Crew, has reportedly only gained 382 million for its first two episodes. However, it's indicated Skeleton Crew has grown in viewership with each episode, which is good news.
What this indicates is that viewers were indeed responding to The Acolyte, making its cancellation worse.
Should Disney+ have continued with The Acolyte?
We’ve already covered why The Acolyte. deserved a renewal. It’s true that Season 1 had lots of flaws, but sci-fi TV is filled with series that were rough in their first season and then majorly improved in the second. Another season could have enhanced the storyline and fixed some of those issues.
The potential was there in the storyline and exploring this unique period in Star Wars lore. Showing the Jedi’s imperfections and the rise of Darth Plageius could have been terrific for drama in a second season. If anything, the flaws of the first season could have added to Season 2 shining brighter.
It sadly seemed Disney was listening too much to the toxic minority of fandom slamming the show not on its quality but its lead character and other elements. That was a bad direction as giving in to the haters never works.
It does appear the key reason behind the cancellation was the high budget, which sadly makes sense. A Star Wars show is not cheap, and Season 2 would have likely been even bigger, so Disney wanting to distance itself from such costs makes sense business-wise.
However, the revelation this show was an actual hit makes its axing less logical. Budget or not, a hit is a hit, and Disney+ can use all the ones it can get. Surely, the budget would have been offset by a bigger and more successful Season 2, bringing in more viewers. That means more subscribers, something Disney+ of course would need.
Sure, they'd have to combat those divisive fans and some doubters as well as that large budget. But the success of the first season proves there was a viewership eager for this show and a base to build on. That makes its axing after just one year a stranger decision for Disney.
It seems unlikely Disney will change their minds as it's rare to un-cancel a show. Given they own Lucasfilm, the producers can't shop it to another streamer. This means the chances of this coming back are pretty much nonexistent despite the viewing numbers.
So The Acolyte joins the unique list of shows that actually were hits for their networks but didn’t get a second season, so it stands as a failed noble try for Star Wars and Disney+.
The Acolyte Season 1 streaming on Disney+.