The Only Star Wars Spin-off That Could Rectify The Acolyte’s Blunder and Restore Franchise’s Glory

Created by Lesly Headland, Star Wars: The Acolyte is a science fiction television series set at the end of the High Republic era before the events of the Skywalker Saga. The show, starring Lee Jung-jae, Amandla Stenberg, Dafne Keen, Manny Jacinto, and more, follows a former Padawan reuniting with her Jedi Master to investigate a series of crimes.

The series premiered in June 2024, and the reviews that the series received were divided. Where critics favored the show, fans expressed their disappointment, and thus, it resulted in the series receiving a lower viewership and eventually cancellation. Fans dubbed the show ‘woke’ and were convinced that Headland, who identifies as queer, was trying to push an LGBTQ+ agenda. An online campaign to renew the show for a second season garnered attention, but there has been no word from the studios, but one spin-off can restore fans’ faith in the Star Wars glory.

Can Palpatine’s spin-off movie rectify The Acolyte’s blunder and restore fans’ faith in Star Wars?

Star Wars’ Sheev Palpatine, also known as Darth Sidious, first appeared in the 1980s The Empire Strikes Back as The Emperor. He was portrayed by Ian McDiarmid and has appeared in all three trilogies in the Skywalker Saga. Palpatine is considered one of the most fascinating characters in the Star Wars saga, as the character has no remorse for his evil intentions and often enjoys watching others’ misery.

Reportedly, he orchestrated the fall of the Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order through the Clone Wars and then went ahead to establish his reign over the galaxy. The dark side of the Forces allowed Palpatine to escape death until his granddaughter Rey killed him during the Battle of Exegol.

A Palpatine spin-off movie seems like an intriguing idea for ardent Star Wars fans. The reason being character’s commitment to reveal his evil deeds and his terrifying sadistic levels that are fun to watch. If the studios plan to go ahead with a spin-off movie centered on Palpatine, it can explore his relationship with Darth Plagueis along with establishing his rise to control the galactic senate.

Darth Plagueis was recently introduced in live-action in Star Wars: The Acolyte, even though his backstory was initially hinted at in Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of Sith. Where Palpatine is considered the true villain of the Skywalker Saga, a lot of his plans are traced back to Plagueis. Exploring Plagueis and Palpatine’s relationship in the spin-off movie can include how Plagueis helped him cultivate his skills as a politician or how Palpatine learned the technique to transfer his spirit into a clone body from his master.

Interestingly, it was Palpatine who killed his own master, Darth Plagueis, as suggested in The Secrets of the Sith (via Screenrant)

But the ascension in the Senate would not be enough. My master, Darth Plaguesi, had served his purpose. I struck him down, claiming his place as the one true master of the Sith.

To be able to explore Palpatine, eliminating his adversaries, including his master, can be a very intriguing and interesting concept for a spin-off. Especially because there has been no depiction of Palpatine striking down Darth Plagueis. While a lot of fans were excited about the introduction of Plagueis in The Acolyte, a lot of them believed that the makers decided to introduce such a significant character in a very callous manner in the finale episode. Hopefully, a spin-off movie could fix what The Acolyte messed up.

The Acolyte star Amandla Stenberg shares her thoughts on the show’s cancellation

The news of Star Wars: The Acolyte being canceled after one season due to low viewership did not surprise the lead actress Amandla Stenberg, who plays Osha and Mae Aniseya on the show. The actress took to her social media to express her disappointment and criticize the right-wing backlash as the reason for the show’s cancellation. She wrote (via THR),

I live in the bubble of my own reality, but for those who aren’t aware, there has been a rampage of vitriol that we have faced since the show was even announced—when it was still just a concept. No one had even seen it. That’s when we started experiencing a rampage of, I would say, hyper-conservative bigotry and vitriol, prejudice, hatred, and hateful language toward us.

She went ahead to thank everyone at LucasFilm for being amazing and Leslye Headland for being one of the best people in the world. She concluded her 10-page story by stating that it’s not lost on her the way the events have unfolded due to the hyper-divisiveness of the times we all live in.

Lee Jung-jae, who played the Jedi Master in the show and died towards the end, shared that he was surprised by the news of the cancellation of the show (via EW). He complimented Headland’s writing and added that he thinks she is a great writer and director. Jung-jae, who will be returning for Squid Game 2, noted that he was looking forward to season 2 of The Acolyte, with Headland being the one to helm the season.

The Acolyte is available to stream on Disney+.