The Acolyte's Amandla Stenberg Shares Her Thoughts on the Star Wars Series' Cancellation

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Hooded Osha played by Amandla Stenberg in the season 1 finale of The Acolyte. — Credits: Lucasfilm

Although there are several projects coming up Star Wars movies and TV series to look forward to in the coming years, a return to the end of the High Republic era is not on that list. Last week, it was announced that The Acolyte had been canceled after just one season, sparking reactions ranging from a group of fans rallying together to try to save the show, to some horrific trolling directed at lead actress Amandla Stenberg. Now, however, Stenberg is finally publicly commenting The Acolyte will not be returning for Season 2, and it started with her acknowledging that Disney’s decision didn’t surprise her.

Taking to her Instagram Stories, Stenberg, also known for playing Rue in The Hunger Games and Starr Carter in The hate you giveshared his thoughts on The Acolytecancellation of the video series. As for why she wasn’t surprised by this corner of the Star Wars the franchise will not continue, here’s what the Osha and Mae actress said:

I’m going to be transparent and say that this isn’t a huge shock to me. Of course, I live in the bubble of my own reality, but for those who don’t know, we’ve been dealing with a wave of vitriol since the show was announced, when it was still a concept and no one had seen it. That’s when we started to experience a wave of hyper-conservative bigotry and vitriol, prejudice, hatred, and hateful language directed at us. It really affected me when I got the job because… even though I expected it to happen, it’s not something you can fully understand how it feels until it happens to you.

Although The Acolyte While it received a positive reception from critics, it was also the target of a review bombardment, as evidenced by its Tomatometer rating of 78% on Rotten Tomatoes compared to its audience score of 18%. That’s not to say that Star Wars The series did not deserve constructive criticism, and its cancellation was reportedly due to low ratings, but Amandla Stenberg is right that the The Acolyte faced an uphill battle dealing with fan backlash, even by the standards of the franchise. She continued:

But I feel like I navigated those feelings in a variety of ways, including expressing myself. For me, it became a situation where I had no choice but to honor my ethics, my belief system, and my value system while being in this very unique position. It felt like I had this very unique experience of seeing the world at large, which is, of course, hyper-divided right now, through the lens of this very unique opportunity to be in Star Wars. It brought up a lot of things for me, a lot of social and political dynamics, a lot of things about my own belief system, how I respond to that kind of hate, how I navigate the world at large. And it became clear to me, at a certain point, that in order to continue to be myself, I had to honor my value system, even expressing myself in the context of my work for Disney and my work within the great intellectual property that is Star Wars.

Amandla Stenberg later said that although she was “very sad” about The Acolyte being cancelled, she also feels “lightness and joy” at the idea of being able to play in the Star Wars universe, which included his examination of fan art, shipping art, fan theories, and more. As well as thanking the fans who showed The Acolyte During her brief stint on the 2024 TV schedule, she also expressed gratitude to the cast and crew she worked with, including creator Leslye Headland. Stenberg’s thoughts come less than a week after Sol actor Lee Jung-jae said he was “pretty surprised” to learn The Acolyte Season 2 would not have happened.

I’m still keeping my fingers crossed that Lucasfilm will finally resolve these lingering plotlines from Season 1 in a novel, a series of novels, or a comic book series. While we wait to see if that wish comes true, remember that the next Star Wars series, Skeleton Crewwill be available to premiere for those with a Disney+ subscription on December 3.