A Year since Cancellation - Email Disney!
A year ago today (8/19), the news reported on Disney's decision to cancel the Acolyte. Worst of all, it was Manny's Birthday. Let your voice be heard today! Let's encourage the powers that be to fix this mistake.
Save The Acolyte
8/19/20253 min read
Copy the email template below and send to any of the following email addresses:
Include: publicrelations@lucasfilm.com
David.J.Jefferson@disney.com
Paul.M.Roeder@disney.com
kmkennedy@lucasfilm.com
Remember to add a Renew the Acolyte/Acolyte Season 2 related subject, adjust the wording to fit your voice, and sign off with your name:
To the people of Lucasfilm and the Disney company,
Please renew the Acolyte.
On July 16 of 2024, the season finale of the Acolyte aired on Disney+. It was a memorable finale with dramatic confrontations, emotional revelations, and, of course, more epic lightsaber battles. Most memorable of all is the image of Osha and Qimir, standing hand in hand, looking into the sunset together. One chapter having come to an end while another stood poised to begin. It was an exciting time as Acolyte fans took to social media to discuss their thoughts on the show’s finale and predictions as to what a second season might bring.
Then, on August 19th of 2024, Deadline announced that the Acolyte had been cancelled. There would be no second season, let alone a conclusion to the story. This was devastating news for fans of the show. Equally devastating was the celebration coming from online trolls and bigots who hailed the cancellation as a victory. Any attempt to express disappointment, even sadness, over the cancellation was often met with bullying remarks flooding the comments section.
This is not to imply that such a reaction was the intention of Lucasfilm or the Disney company. However, in a world where perception is everything and hyperbole is rewarded with attention, intentions hardly matter. Also, it cannot be ignored that projects centering BIPOC actors and more diverse stories are especially vulnerable to bad-faith critiques, racism, and misogyny. All of which the Acolyte and its cast were on the receiving end of.
Yet even in the face of all the hate, fans refused to surrender, and so began the battle to save the Acolyte. A petition went up online and quickly gained momentum. At the time of writing, the petition stands at almost 85,000 signatures. In the year since the cancellation, there have been 6 billboards, all varying in design, in New York’s Times Square promoting the effort to renew the Acolyte. For the year 2024, the Acolyte held on to a spot in the top five most consumed shows on Disney+. The show continued to hold onto that spot well into 2025. Data from Parrot Analytics rate the Acolyte as also being among the most searched, shared, and consumed shows for that year.
(https://tv.parrotanalytics.com/US/the-acolyte-disney-plus)
Acolyte fans still gather in online spaces where they engage in theorizing about their favorite characters or possible story arcs, making art and writing fan fiction. During the month of July, fans on platforms such as Bluesky, Tumblr, and X partook of a 31-day question-and-answer challenge. Fans set about answering daily prompts such as favorite aspects of the show, favorite episode, location, character, etc. More than once, the campaign to renew the show has been a trending topic online.
(https://x.com/Acolytelovers/status/1930305501075472874)
Also thriving is a demand for Acolyte merchandise and collectables. The Acolyte visual guide has multiple 5-star reviews on Amazon. All available action figures also sell well on the same platform. Most popular and in demand is any and all merchandise pertaining to the character of Qimir AKA the Stranger. The Qimir Black Series figure made its debut at the recent San Diego Comic Convention. Within hours, pre-orders for the figure were completely sold out.
It has been a year since the cancellation, and fans of the Acolyte are still here. Still fighting to bring back a corner in a galaxy far, far away, where they found a home for themselves. Star Wars is a narrative about good, evil, and love. The Acolyte evokes all three principles while also illustrating that the distance between the light and the darkness is not so wide after all.
To the people of Lucasfilm and the Disney company, we, members of the Star Wars and Acolyte community alike, implore you to consider The Acolyte for renewal. There is indeed an audience for the show. An audience that has remained after the cancellation and grown in the time since. The Acolyte is another story in the Star Wars galaxy, and it deserves to exist and to continue.
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. May the Force be with you.
Sincerely,