Actor Manny Jacinto is still holding out hope for a second season of Star Wars series The Acolyte despite the recent cancellation. During an appearance at Dragon Con in Atlanta, Georgia (via @DigitalLA), Jacinto was asked about his future goals and what he would like to achieve before he leaves “this mortal coil.” For the actor, this answer was not a difficult one, with Jacinto pondering his response for a second before replying simply…
“Season 2 of The Acolyte.”
His answer was met with rapturous cheers and applause from the crowd, who clearly would also love to see the actor and the rest of The Acolyte cast return for more stories in a galaxy far, far away. Set at the end of the High Republic era before the events of the Skywalker Saga, The Acolyte follows a Jedi as he begins to investigates a series of crimes. Jacinto joins the Star Wars franchise as the mysterious antagonist known as The Stranger, and while the series itself was met with some criticism, his performance was universally praised.
Unfortunately, despite largely positive reviews from critics and a social media campaign calling for Disney+ to #RenewTheAcolyte, the series was ultimately canceled last month due to low viewership. Despite this, Jacinto is not giving up hope that Disney will change their minds.
While this is unlikely, it is possible that characters from The Acolyte such as Jacinto’s Sith master could return in future Star Wars projects. So, much like Jacinto, fans of The Stranger don’t need to entirely abandon hope just yet.
Amandla Stenberg Has Now Responded to the Cancellation & Called Out the Hatred
Much like a lot of Star Wars these days, the reaction to the cancellation of The Acolyte has been divisive. Some were hoping that the risk-taking show would be given the chance to grow, while others found it to be the worst offering in the franchise since Disney took over in 2012. The Acolyte lead Amandla Stenberg has now responded to the cancellation, saying that the studio’s decision not to give the series a Season 2 was “not a huge shock for me.
“I thought I would get on here, and just speak candidly. I hate doing this. I hate doing this, but I’m gonna do it. I honestly, I don’t use social media very much anymore, and I’m so happy about that, but there are many folks out there that I want to acknowledge and I want to show appreciation and love and support for so that’s why I’m hopping on here to talk about this, which is that our show, our Star Wars show, has been canceled. And I’m gonna say, I’m really transparent, and say that it’s not a huge shock for me.”
The Acolyte was met with “review bombing” from a certain section of the fanbase, with some even targeting the stars themselves on social media. Something which has sadly become a trend for Star Wars in the modern era. Stenberg called out the “hyper-conservative bigotry and vitriol, prejudice, hatred, and hateful language” before paying tribute to those involved in creating the show and those who enjoyed it.
“On that topic, I just have to say it has been an incredible honor and dream for me to be in this universe. Even though, of course, I’m very sad about the show being canceled and I’m sad about us not being able to give people who are invested into it more, because…. I still just feel a lot of levity and joy around the fact that it that I got to experience it, and that people loved it, and that people were so responsive. I poured through a lot of different iterations of fan art and ship art and fan theories and things that were just so beautiful and filled my heart with joy.”
The Acolyte
is now available to stream on Disney+.
