Posted in: Disney+, Movies, TV | Tagged: The Acolyte

The Acolyte Showrunner Has "No Regrets"; Discusses Online Backlash

The Acolyte Showrunner Leslye Headland reflects on the decision to cancel the "Star Wars" series and the online backlash to it.

Showrunner Leslye Headland's Amandla Stenberg and Manny Jacinto-starring The Acolyte is one of those series whose demise will be debated for years to come. The series got off to a strong two-episode debut, with 11.1 million global views over the course of its first five days – going on to debut on Nielsen's Top 10 originals chart with its premiere week at No. 7 (488 million minutes viewed), rising to No. 7 the following week. As the season went on, the streaming series would drop out of Nielsen's Top 10 with the third episode, only returning to the chart with the finale. In August of 2024, the word came down that the series would not be returning, though some would argue that the show's viewing numbers were strong enough to warrant a second season, especially in light of other franchises.

It's also important to note that The Acolyte, its cast, and its creative team also faced the uphill battle of trying to win over a certain percentage of fans who attacked the series and those associated with it on social media for its efforts at diversity and representation, review-bombing episodes during the show's run. Stenberg and others called out the harassment that they received leading into and during the season, with Jodie Turner-Smith (Mother Aniseya) calling out Disney for not doing more to protect Stenberg. Speaking with The Wrap for a profile on her career and upcoming projects via her Shoot to Midnight banner, Headland reflected on the series' demise and the role online backlash played.

"I have thoughts about this, and I don't want to go on a tangent, so I'll stick to the personal rather than the professional. I was not online. However, 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. 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," Headland shared about the online factors in play. "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."

As Headland sees it, online/social media is no longer about fandom and more about content creators who monetize their reactions/coverage for profit. "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. And by the way, have at it. Get your coin 100%," she shared.

"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 a focus group. It made me start to think, rather than these fans are toxic, or this thing is being mean to me, it made me think more that the content being made about 'Star Wars' will ultimately be more culturally impactful than actual 'Star Wars.' I believe we're headed into that space. Those IPs will continue to make money, but I don't know how much they will affect the next generation as much as the content that is being created around those events, IP films and television shows."

Headland continued, "That is a proper business model rather than a bunch of mean people. It's a lot more financial than I think people realize, and as somebody that really has supported a lot of those channels financially and with my eyeballs, some of that stuff is probably the only content that a younger generation is seeing." Noting that the decision to cancel the series after one season was "kind of both" a viewership and creative-based one, Headland said that she was "not surprised" by the call. What did surprise her was "the swiftness of it and the publicness of it," adding that she 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,'" she continued. "The viewership was a little muddled for me, because — and this is my understanding — with "Star Wars," you're not just measured within the marketplace that you happen to be in at that time, you're measured against every other "Star Wars" show. We hit the Nielsens a couple times, not every week or anything like that, but a couple times it poked through. I feel like for a launch of a first season show that was trying different things, I think it could have been worth it to allow the audience it was meant for to find it. But that wasn't up to me. So I fully respect the decision, even if I'm sad about it."

Despite how everything went down, Headland notes that she has "no regrets" and is still "absolutely obsessed with the franchise's universe. "I still am, and I love my show, and I know that it was wonderful. And honestly, the designers that worked on the show are more responsible for it — because of what 'Star Wars' is, creating that world is honestly harder than creating the narrative and the dialogue and the characters, that stuff I've done. It's more hiring the right people, and all of those people were brilliant."

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