Star Wars: The Acolyte has faced so much hate that it received poor reviews from toxic fans even before it premiered. The backlash isn’t limited to the show; lead star Amandla Stenberg, who plays the twin sisters Osha and Mae, has also suffered racist attacks, with her Instagram flooded with hateful comments. Now that the show has been canceled after just one season, the series merch has become the latest target of review bombing.
A few days after The Acolyte was canceled, many thought Disney had removed its merchandise from its online store after it became unavailable. Thankfully, the merch is back in stock, but it has now come under fire, with people rating the items with the lowest possible scores.
On the store’s website, a T-shirt featuring the show’s cast—Mother Aniseya (Jodie Turner-Smith), Mother Koril (Margarita Levieva), Jedi Master Sol (Lee Jung-jae), Jedi Master Kelnacca (Joonas Suotamo), Vernestra Rwoh (Rebecca Henderson), Osha, and Yord (Charlie Barnett)—received a couple of poor ratings from two consumers. They gave it a score of one for both the quality and value of the product and even mocked the show in their comments.
“The failure of one, The failure of two, The failure of Disney,” the comments read. “The shirt is just a poor design. Perfect example of what the show was as well. Poor design.”
A sweatshirt featuring the Jedi Masters Sol, Vernestra, and Kelnacca alongside Yord and Jecki (Dafne Keen) also attracts criticism, with some questioning the Jedi Knight and Padawan’s role in it. User @AngelRR stressed that Yord and Jecki are not Jedi Masters, seemingly showing the little effort put into the show. Another also noticed the lightsaber colors, saying Vernestra uses a lightsaber whip.
“A garbage tshirt to go with a garbage series. Disney needs more content like Andor,” another said.
Thankfully, some fans have come to The Acolyte’s rescue, urging consumers not to listen to the critics who spread hate and leave negative reviews on shirts they haven’t purchased. Contrary to what the detractors claim, these fans say the product’s design is gorgeous, and the fabric is soft and durable.
“Don't listen to the haters who clearly have nothing better to do than leave a bad review on a shirt they haven't even purchased,” the comment read.
Why was Star Wars: The Acolyte canceled?
It has been over a week since Disney canceled The Acolyte. Neither Lucasfilm nor the House of Mouse has addressed the cancellation, but many say it has something to do with the poor ratings. Insider Jeff Sneider said the same, revealing the show was canceled due to “low viewership.”
Though the series kicked off with a good start, generating 4.8 million views, it eventually lost momentum after just two episodes. It dropped out of Nielsen’s Top 10 in Week 3, and two of its flashback episodes lost traction after issues with pacing and dialogue. So, if viewers gave up this early on the show, they might not have seen Episode 5, Night, which was lauded for its epic lightsaber battle and several major deaths.
With a reported budget of $180 million, global streamers like Disney+ require their shows to achieve a high viewership threshold to renew their high-end, big-budget series that cost over $100 million. Given the intense backlash that The Acolyte has continuously faced, it has struggled to secure a renewal for a second season.
By the looks of it, the criticisms faced by The Acolyte go far beyond the show itself. With the actors, creator Leslye Headland, and even the show’s merchandise being attacked, the backlash seems to be driven more by hate than by concerns about quality.
All episodes of The Acolyte are available on Disney+.
