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THE ACOLYTE Showrunner Opens Up About Its Abrupt Cancelation

Originally posted on Nerdist | By Eric Diaz | Last updated Nov 21, 2025 9:26 PM ET

It’s been a little over a year since The Acolyte premiered on Disney+. And just as swiftly, they canceled it. To say that everything surrounding the Star Wars High Republic show was controversial from the get-go is understating it. Showrunner Leslye Headland faced criticism from a subset and very vocal online Star Wars fandom from the start. Now, a year after Disney+ pulled the plug on the series, Headland is opening up about how the cancellation came as no big surprise, given the toxicity the show dealt with from the jump. She told The Wrap (via IGN) that the writing was on the wall from very early on. But it still bums her out. Here’s some of what she had to say:

I was not surprised by [the cancellation]. I think I was surprised at the swiftness of it and the publicness of it. I 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.’

Headland didn’t mince words, saying that the barrage of criticism from Star Wars content creators online is something Disney very much pays attention to. They see these channels as a form of focus group. So if they turn on something, they quickly react to whatever it is they feel “the fans” want. And you can see that unfold big time with every Star Wars project since The Rise of Skywalker. Headland added the following:

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.

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Sadly, this means the Star Wars franchise will take fewer and fewer risks going forward. And eventually, the franchise will stagnate. Can Starfighter save it? Possibly, but Stranger Things and Deadpool & Wolverine director Shawn Levy is in charge, and it stars Ryan Gosling. It faces fewer challenges than The Acolyte did. Meanwhile, Headland confirmed recently that our theory of Qimir’s connection to the Knights or Ren was correct, and would have unfolded over the course of the series. Too bad it’s all just left now to our collective imaginations.

This article first appeared on Nerdist and was syndicated with permission.

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