WHY STAR WARS CANCELLED THE ACOLYTE
WHY STAR WARS CANCELLED THE ACOLYTE
Transcript
00:00Welcome back everyone is Charlie Star Wars just announced that they canceled the acolyte
00:11TV show.
00:12There's not going to be a season 2.
00:13No answers about several of the major cliffhangers at the end of season one like what's going
00:17on with Darth Plagueis the true tragedy of Darth Plagueis the wise is that we have no
00:21idea what he was going to do with Chimera and OSHA what was the unspoken history between
00:26Chimera and Vernestra Rowe.
00:28What was going on with David Harewood senator rain court character.
00:32What was going on with the virgins in the force and what if anything about all this
00:36in the Sith did Yoda know and when did he know that's just a taste of some of the cliffhangers
00:42that are now joining that same graveyard is those Marvel movie post credit scenes that
00:46go nowhere because their sequels got canceled.
00:49It's kind of turned into a meme the last two years with all the different movies and shows
00:52being canceled by Star Wars and Marvel over at Disney.
00:55It is been a bloodbath the last couple of years will explain what happened with the
00:59acolyte specifically in what's happening with Star Wars as a whole just in general because
01:04the sort of represents a larger shift in Star Wars priorities where they're spending all
01:08their money and all their energy, but the only real tea that I have to spill on the
01:13series is that apparently Leslie Hale of the actual showrunner had a much better sounding
01:19version of the show that she wanted to make, but the Lucasfilm was afraid to make like
01:23she actually wanted to make the Sith base show that we were all pitch that we're going
01:27to get, but apparently Lucasfilm was afraid of actually doing a show about Sith characters,
01:32which is why we had to spend most of season one with the force which is in them spinning
01:35their wheels with the sisters and then like leading up to the idea that eventually OSHA
01:39would become Sith eventually ending the show with a bunch of ideas that made it seem like
01:45season two would have been much much better than season one.
01:48So it sounds like originally the plan for season one was what they were going to be
01:52doing during season two.
01:53I don't know why they were afraid of leading with the good stuff like why don't you just
01:56start with the good stuff.
01:58But right now Star Wars is in their big push back to the movies with the Mandalorian and
02:03Grogu there was a brand-new trailer for that at D23 I did a much longer breakdown video
02:08of it last week so I'll link that at the end of this and down the description below starting
02:11with the big stuff first RIP to the acolyte another one season show from Star Wars.
02:17There's a lot you can say about why the show failed on a story level on a character level
02:21like there were just a couple things that just did not work.
02:24But the first big reason why it got canceled should be obvious in its budget is all about
02:30money like that's all these big corporations really care about.
02:33They don't care about the fans they care about money.
02:36If you didn't follow development on the series it had a reported budget of around 180 hundred
02:40ninety million dollars and according to deadline in Nielsen ratings for the series like the
02:45viewership cratered after the first couple of episodes like it started strong than just
02:50absolutely petered off which is not what you want to see when you're spending more
02:54money than you expected to spend on a series which is vastly more expensive than what Disney
03:00said they wanted to spend on all these different Disney plus series.
03:03We actually got some details about this from Kevin Feige over at Marvel back when Disney
03:07plus launched in 2019 with the Mandalorian Kevin Feige around that time was watching
03:12a lot of his Marvel series on Disney plus Disney's larger goal.
03:16He said was to keep their budgets for the series around $150 million a piece.
03:21That's why you had some series that were like 45 minutes and 6 episodes and then the longer
03:26series that were like 8 to 9 episodes being more like 30 minutes long all because that
03:31was them just stretching that same $150 million across that amount of time, but the reported
03:37budget of the Mandalorian season one was only $120 million me that it was a bargain by their
03:44standards and keep in mind this was also developed with the volume technology for season
03:48one that was the beginning of them using that special style of filming like a lot of that
03:52technology really expensive.
03:54So that was wrapped up in the budget of season one the Mandalorian series popped off everybody
03:58loved it grogu turned into a huge meme early on which help the series penetrate larger
04:03pop culture get people who normally didn't care about Star Wars to care about Star Wars
04:07again when rise of Skywalker was doing everything it could to make people hate Star Wars around
04:12that same time Disney CEO Bob Iger gives his infamous Star Wars and Marvel big edict
04:17to crank up their output to crazy levels hoping that the steady stream of Star Wars and Marvel
04:23shows on Disney plus over the next several years will sustain their subscriber numbers
04:27and make Disney plus a profitable streaming service.
04:30We all saw what happened after that.
04:32Like wait for the other shoe to drop big crash from all the streaming networks.
04:37Not just from Disney, but also HBO Max like everybody just did terribly.
04:42It was a good example of the fallacy that if you just slap a popular name on something
04:47like DC Star Wars Marvel.
04:49It doesn't automatically mean that people will watch it and enjoy it and continue to
04:53pay subscription money to the services which was also increasing year to year like the
04:58subscription prices go up and up and up every year.
05:01So it should be obvious your shows have to actually be good with this crazy output Star
05:05Wars and Marvel just couldn't control their quality and we saw how that ended secret invasion
05:10is a prime example of quantity over quality Kevin Feige very publicly pulled way back
05:16on the number of releases like Deadpool and Wolverine.
05:19The only movie that the releasing this year and it pulled way back on the number of TV
05:23series they were releasing enabling them to do the quality control they needed so that
05:27they would only be releasing bangers over on the Star Wars side of things.
05:32It seemed like Mando was cooking Jon Favreau Dave Filoni were the saviors of the Star Wars
05:37brand in the wake of the rise of Skywalker like they will save Star Wars.
05:42But if you remember that Disney plus state announcement bonanza back in 2020 when Marvel
05:47and DC announced a billion different projects.
05:49This was like when Bob Iger was forcing their output to like crazy levels.
05:54Most of the stuff on the Star Wars board here has since been canceled like the only stuff
05:59that survived was the Mando and related stuff like Ahsoka, which is a spinoff of the Mandalorian
06:04Dave Filoni makes it there in the middle of working on season two right now and or also
06:09probably one of the best things the Star Wars is done in recent years.
06:12The animated stuff like bad batch was also from Dave Filoni the vision series did make
06:17it to a season two, but that's pretty much it a lot of the rest are either outright canceled
06:22like never actually made it to episodes or were one and done seasons got canceled after
06:27season one.
06:28A lot of times the nice way that they've said this in the past is that they only planned
06:32on stuff to be season one like all we wanted this to be a limited series in the beginning,
06:36but that's not true.
06:37Like if it had done well enough they would've done multiple seasons of everything.
06:40So isn't clearly at the time like this is back in 2020 they had absolutely no idea where
06:45Star Wars needed to go creatively images shotgunning stuff at the wall to see what stuck.
06:50This is why in present day the first movie that the releasing in theaters in years is
06:54going to be the Mandalorian and Grogu because is their strongest show right now like the
06:59most popular thing that they make.
07:01So of course are going to lead with that like let's just do a movie for the most popular
07:04thing we have getting to the second major reason why the acolyte was canceled.
07:09It was originally supposed to be the main Star Wars TV show after the Mandalorian finished
07:14its run on TV like that's the way they went into marketing season one of the acolyte like
07:19we know the Mando is going to turn into a movie franchise now with the Mandalorian Grogu
07:24we need like a main TV show to anchor our schedule and they were pitching that as the
07:28acolyte if it wasn't clear I talked about this is some of my Mando and Grogu movie videos,
07:33but essentially that movie was their plan plot for season four of the Mandalorian.
07:38So they're doing the movie instead of doing it as a TV show.
07:41So originally the Mando part of the timeline was like the main part of the timeline that
07:45they were focusing all their time and energy on, but since that's moving to the movies
07:49they need like a TV show to anchor their schedule in the acolyte was meant to be their big push
07:53into the high Republic era in the live action stuff.
07:57So part of the idea is that is Mando moved into the movies we be watching all the high
08:01Republic stuff on TV and there be more spinoffs during that part of the timeline they just
08:05develop that part of the timeline more.
08:08So if you haven't been reading the high Republic comics and books.
08:11It was sort of like a shadows of the Empire style push from Star Wars to do a larger story
08:15universe set during a totally new part of the timeline that they hadn't covered in previous
08:20games books or TV shows.
08:23Sort of the way shadows of the Empire was like a story universe set during a specific
08:26part of the timeline during the 90s.
08:28Now I don't know what the book sales numbers are for the high Republic stuff or like how
08:32that stuff is doing for Lucasfilm in general, but on top a lot of the criticisms of the
08:36characters in the story of the acolyte them canceling the series is another indicator
08:42that they change their minds at Star Wars about shifting the live action shows and movies
08:46to the high Republic era part of the timeline.
08:49Now it just sounds like the sort of time that part of the timeline off and letting them
08:52finish the story in the books like they'd originally planned it.
08:55I do not think they have any more animated shows or live action shows that will take
09:00place during the high Republic era or like any movie plans during that part of the timeline
09:04in favor of number three positioning Ahsoka as the new main TV show that they're focusing
09:10on that will fill the gap years between movies for the time being like the Mandalorian shifts
09:16to the movies Ahsoka is basically taking its place as the main TV show.
09:20I also think this is a larger part of Star Wars in general just doubling down on Dave
09:25Filoni and Jon Favreau creatively because Jon Favreau is directing the Mandalorian Grogu
09:30movie.
09:31So there's sort of banking on him is Star Wars to reinvigorate the brand again like
09:35after doing it with Mando season one the like could you please do this.
09:38But with the movies Dave Filoni is still directing the Thrawn movie which is like another big
09:42part of the timeline that they were pitching a couple years ago that was originally going
09:46to be like the next big movie before they announced the Mandalorian and Grogu.
09:49It sounds like Mando and Grogu is sort of them making the safe bet before they try the
09:54Thrawn movie because the reception on Thrawn was so tepid, but it all just boils down to
09:58the fact that Star Wars in general is way more invested with those two guys and everything
10:03that they're doing in that part of the timeline.
10:06For example, the skeleton crew show with Jude Law that's coming later this year like I just
10:10did a big trailer video for it.
10:11So I'll post a link down the description that is meant to be another Mandalorian spinoff.
10:16takes place after the Mandalorian season three.
10:18Those characters were originally supposed to cross over with the Mando characters in
10:22the Thrawn movie.
10:24Those plans could have shifted now because the way their movie plans of all change a
10:27little bit, but you can kind of see the way the wind is blowing at Star Wars and is blowing
10:31in a Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni direction if it wasn't already is blowing in their direction
10:36even more now they're tightening budgets on all their different stuff.
10:40So like a lot of the fringe projects and stuff that they were just going to try it like the
10:44you know, this sounds like a fun idea.
10:45Maybe will throw some money at this the not doing that kind of thing anymore and they're
10:48just focusing on the most most popular stuff that they have in doubling down on that.
10:54As for how they wrap up the cliffhangers on the acolyte series.
10:57I think based on what the showrunner said about the character arcs.
11:01It's enough to pick out where they were headed with most of the storylines Darth Plagueis
11:05the wise was very clearly more interested in OSHA than Chimera who was his current apprentice
11:10they said they were trying to work within the rule of two.
11:13They were going to outright break that which I think means that Darth Plagueis would have
11:16continued to have Chimera as his official apprentice in OSHA would have just been called
11:21the dot dot dot wait for it acolyte thus the name of the show as a way around him having
11:27two apprentices at the same time like an acolyte is a different idea than being an apprentice
11:32Darth Plagueis really only cared about the virgins in the force and OSHA's potential
11:36for power because they would probably use OSHA's creation the force the way she and
11:40her sister may were born as a single person is split into two using the force to explain
11:46how Darth Plagueis learn to manipulate the midichlorians to create life stop death generally
11:51became way more powerful the way that Palpatine talked about him during revenge of the Sith
11:55at a certain point he probably would have killed Chimera or gotten OSHA to do it to
12:00further her descent into the dark side.
12:02So RIP Chimera and somehow Palpatine return like post all the memes the showrunner did
12:08say that eventually we'd see a young version of Palpatine, but because the series took
12:12place 100 years before phantom menace and Palpatine was in his early 50s at the beginning
12:17of that movie.
12:18The only way that works is that there was a huge time jump in future seasons like OSHA
12:23may would have had to either been very old when Palpatine shows up or they have to bent
12:28over backwards to explain why they still look young and say that it was part of their power
12:31keeping them young either way presents a big problem like they have to bend time and
12:35space.
12:36They did that during the series a couple times though were the like can't this person who
12:39was there later in the canon just be there earlier and we just say that they were there
12:43earlier lot of hand waving when it came to when certain characters were in certain places
12:49Darth Plagueis then continues his plan from the canon to take down the Jedi order using
12:53the Senate and the Republic like his long-term Sith plan that's been going on for hundreds
12:58of years.
12:59He basically it was a plan that started before Darth Plagueis came along and he just became
13:02his planet a certain point canonically Plagueis was the person who helped Palpatine get into
13:08the Senate when he was younger basically foster his political career because Plagueis was
13:12part of the banking clan like he was very rich.
13:15So the whole order 66 of it all like the long-term Sith plan to take down the Jedi really became
13:20a big thing under Plagueis and Palpatine just made it his own plan after he killed Plagueis
13:26also because Palpatine comes along eventually in takes power that would also mean that he
13:31probably wind up killing OSHA at a certain point and may as well to so RIP to both of
13:35them as for Chimera's history with for Nestor row.
13:39I think it was very clear from season one that he used to be her Padawan.
13:42He had some tragic backstory before he became a Jedi at the temple his biological family
13:47were probably killed in some gruesome fashion.
13:50It sounds like his backstory was similar to main OSHA's like he couldn't get past that
13:54darkness within him.
13:56Eventually he wound up fighting for Nestor row his master who thought that she had killed
14:00him but he escaped with that scar from her lightsaber whip on his back at some point
14:05found Darth Plagueis and began training with him.
14:07They would probably had of her Nestor row in Chimera rematch fight.
14:12Ultimately I think he would have killed her.
14:14She was such a shady character on the series hiding all those past misdeeds from Yoda the
14:18Jedi Council.
14:19It just seems like she had been marked for death early on like they wanted to let you
14:22know.
14:23No, she's not going to survive this.
14:25As for David Harewood's Senator rain court.
14:27I think they initially wanted you to wonder if he was Sith, but because of what they reveal
14:31with Darth Plagueis and Chimera and all that stuff.
14:34I think he's just working with Darth Plagueis.
14:37That's kind of the deal with a lot of the politicians in the Star Wars universe like
14:40they're somewhat corrupt like you offer them more political power and they'll just do whatever
14:45you say.
14:46So it sounds like Plagueis was feeding a lot of information about the Jedi that hurt them
14:51to Senator rain court helping his rise in the Senate.
14:55As for that end tag scene with Yoda big question about what he was going to do about all this
14:59for Nestor rose seem like she was finally going to come clean about all the shady stuff
15:02that happened with the force which is on Brendach personally I found it hard to believe that
15:06Yoda didn't know about the virgins in the force because it seemed like a huge plot point
15:11on the series that they wanted to prove that it existed and that's what ultimately led
15:15to a lot of the deaths like no no no we have to prove that this force purchase is an actual
15:19thing.
15:20It's a huge deal when normally you think that all Yoda would have to do is just fly a ship
15:24into proximity the planet and he would feel the power in the force like oh yeah there's
15:29clearly something going on here.
15:31So just seem like the series kept having to find ways to keep characters in the dark like
15:35no no no we can't have them know about this stuff because it'll destroy the plot of the
15:38series.
15:39They also had the issue with them wanting to maintain the plot point in phantom menace
15:43with the line that the Jedi Council didn't believe the Sith could be around because they
15:48thought they've been dormant for the last thousand years.
15:50So I think in service of maintaining that plot point Yoda would have never learned about
15:55Darth Plagueis and Vernestra Rowe when she did learn about him.
15:59It would've been after going to the secret Sith planet where they were all training were
16:02Chimera was she probably would've learned what was really going on with Darth Plagueis
16:07there had a rematch fight with Chimera, but then lost and been killed before she had time
16:12to tell any of the other Jedi about it.
16:14The only way you keep the secret of the Sith is if all the characters who learn about it
16:18either die or become Sith themselves, which is like the case with OSHA.
16:23So RIP to anybody on the series that at any point learned that the Sith were back that
16:28Darth Plagueis was an actual thing.
16:30Basically that's what was in store for the acolyte like in future seasons like had to
16:34continue to season 2 season 3 they would basically just played those storylines out what's next
16:39for Star Wars right now though is the skeleton crew episodes late this year.
16:43I've already talked about that crossing over with the Mandalorian stuff the Ahsoka part
16:47of the timeline to we have and or season 2 episodes next year.
16:51I do have a trailer video for that.
16:53I might do like a trailer breakdown at some point maybe will get Ahsoka season 2 episodes
16:58at the end of next year to just depending on how fast they move then the Mandalorian
17:02and Grogu movie is coming out May 2026 right now.
17:05The funny thing about that is it's the same time they're supposed to release Avengers
17:09five doomsday with Robert Downey Jr. coming back is that version of Doctor Doom you can
17:13bet money on the fact that they will not release a Star Wars movie in an Avengers movie at
17:19the same time like that would be crazy.
17:21One of those movies is gonna move by at least a couple weeks is probably be Star Wars.
17:26I've already done a much bigger trailer video for the Mandalorian and Grogu movie.
17:30Click here to watch that and click here for my Ahsoka season 2 teaser thank you so much
17:35for watching and I'll see you guys in the next one.