Summary The Acolyte receives mixed reviews, with critics liking it but fans feeling let down, leading to an all-time low approval rate. Disney's Star Wars projects often draw criticism from fans who oppose alterations to George Lucas' original trilogy or diversified storylines. Other projects like a fan film and unrelated movie Acolytes are receiving backlash due to confusion with the new show.
There have been very few Star Wars projects released in the last few years that have met with the approval of large swathes of the sci-fi-franchises' fandom, and The Acolyte has proven to be no different. While critics have mostly praised the latest addition to the Disney+ line-up of Star Wars content, the audience approval rate has crashed to an all-time franchise low thanks to several waves of review-bombing. However, it is not just the new show that has been suffering, as some other projects sharing the name seem to have been accidental targets of internet trolls as well.
The Acolyte ActionAdventureDramaSci-Fi 2/5
Star Wars series that take viewers into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark-side powers in the final days of the High Republic era.
Release Date June 4, 2024 Cast Dafne Keen , Lee Jung-jae , Amandla Stenberg , Jodie Turner-Smith , Joonas Suotamo , Carrie-Anne Moss , Margarita Levieva , Charlie Barnett , Dean-Charles Chapman Main Genre Sci-Fi Seasons 1 Studio Disney+, Lucasfilm Franchise Star Wars Number of Episodes 8 Streaming Service(s) Disney+ Franchise(s) Star Wars Directors Leslye Headland , Alex Garcia Lopez Showrunner Leslye Headland Expand
As with many of Disney's Star Wars projects, The Acolyte has been drawing ire from long-term fans who stand by the belief that George Lucas' original trilogy and the canon it created should never be altered or changed in any way, along with the usual gripes about the franchise being woke and over-diversifying a universe made up of multicolored races and peoples of the galaxy. It seems though that many of those wanting to air their grievances about the latest episode have been getting their wires crossed about which Acolyte they are channeling their complaints towards.
As noted by Fandomwire, two other projects have been feeling the force of Star Wars fans, with The Acolyte: A Star Wars Fan Film taking a hit on IMDb, and the 2008 movie Acolytes, which coincidentally features Star Wars veteran Joel Edgerton, seeing a huge drop in its audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. While the former of these projects is quite an easy mistake for someone to make when blinded by the need to urgently share their 1-star rating, the latter is a bit harder to understand.
Acolytes Has Seemingly Been Caught in Star Wars Crossfire Close
Acolytes has seen a sudden wave of negative reviews since the arrival of The Acolyte on Disney+ last week. Although Joel Edgerton is known to Star Wars fans for his role as Luke's Uncle Owen in the prequel movies and Obi-Wan Kenobi, it seems that his presence in this completely unrelated project has been enough for some to believe they are slating the new Star Wars show - which it should be pointed out Edgerton doesn't actually appear in. For the record, Acolytes is about three teens (Sebastian Gregory, Hanna Mangan Lawrence, Joshua Payne) who blackmail a serial killer (Joel Edgerton) into helping them get rid of a violent bully (Michael Dorman). So not even remotely in the same territory as a Star Wars project.
Rotten Tomatoes has now removed the incorrect reviews from Acolytes' page.
The Acolyte has very quickly set itself out as the best and worst of the Star Wars franchise. Critics have applauded this new era, which is one of the many projects that will be exploring areas of the franchise on screen that have not been seen before, but fans are once again proving very hard to please despite the series scoring huge viewership figures. With many big movie projects now in development to bring Star Wars back to cinemas in the coming years, whether those fans can ever be won over is something that is becoming more questionable all the time.
