Summary
Star Wars: The Acolytemight have sparked a maelstrom of controversy and discourse both before and after its highly polarizing cancelation, but one individual close to the show wasn’t at all disturbed by the show’s dismissal or the noise surrounding it, and now they’ve explained why.
Star Wars: The Acolytewas a polarizing project from the very first episode, as the Leslye Headland-directed show seemed to grasp onto the emerging school of thought thatthe Jedi aren’t all that interesting inStar Wars,placing an emphasis on subversive storytelling from new, more ‘exciting’ perspectives. The show garnered a lot of interest when it debuted on Disney+ but quickly fell off over the course of its first season run to just its core audience, leading to Disney not going forward with a second season despite signs that it was in the picture at some point.
While some fans celebrated the cancelation, others derided it and even feared thatDisney would remove theStar Warsseries from streaming after a merch-related mishap. However, one person who wasn’t particularly moved one way or another was someone unexpected: Hollywood legend and star onThe AcolyteCarrie-Anne Moss, who played Jedi Master Indara in the show. Speaking to theSci-Fi & Fantasy Gazetteabout her ironically named character Mae in her most recently released projectDie Alone,Moss explained why she was able to take the show’s cancelation in stride. “Yeah, I don’t really invest in thinking about whether things…it’s like when I was in a Marvel show [Jessica Jones], and I was really shocked when it got canceled in the end,” Moss explained. “You kind of get used to that, so you don’t really…you may’t even have a moment of disappointment. It’s just not worth it. It just happens. It’s part of it.”
While it’s probably a bit surprising, Moss’ explanation makes perfect sense coming from such a tenured and accomplished actress. Moss has actually spoken publicly about her efforts to stay above the disappointments and volatility that have always been par for the course in the industry, especially in relation to her spirituality and her Annapurna Living lifestyle brand. It’s great that she’s coping well, butStar Wars: The Acolyte’scancelation is a bad sign for everyone else, even those who didn’t enjoy this particular interpretation of the franchise. Disney is legendary for being a risk-averse player, and for every canceledAcolyte,there’s that much less of a chance that the nextAndorwill get the green light at Disney+. While Moss might be fine, the rest of the franchise might be worse off for losingThe Acolyte.
It’s hard to gauge if those who actually embracedThe Acolyteare a prominent number amidst all the hate that the show received, but everyone is entitled to their opinions within the franchise. For those fans, there’s some consolation in the fact thatthe announcedAcolyteprequel novel is still hitting shelves despite the show’s cancelation. While its certainly no season two, the book will offer fans a lot more time with one of the show’s more prominent characters and really explore some of the additions to the canon that Headland and her cast tried to bring to the small screen.
