'Failed' Star Wars Show Climbs Back into Disney+ Top 10
Disney pulled the plug on Star Wars: The Acolyte in August 2024, one month after its eight-episode first season ended on a cliffhanger. The reason given was familiar. Namely, that the show's reported $230 million production cost didn't justify its viewership numbers.
It had arrived to strong critical reviews (an 85% score on Rotten Tomatoes) but faced a vicious online campaign before a single episode aired. Lead star Amandla Stenberg, who played twin sisters Osha and Mae, described the harassment as a 'rampage of hyper-conservative bigotry and vitriol.' Disney said nothing publicly in defense of its cast. The show was canceled, the conversation moved on, and that seemed to be that.
Then, this week, something unexpected happened.
As of April 22, The Acolyte re-entered Disney+'s Top 10 TV Shows chart in the United States, landing at number nine, according to tracking data from FlixPatrol. Two years after its cancellation, with no announcement or marketing push.
The timing might not be hard to explain. Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord, the new animated series from Dave Filoni, has been dominating the platform since its April 6 premiere, sitting at number one on Disney+ both in the U.S. and globally. When one Star Wars title surges, viewers tend to browse for others. The Acolyte, which similarly explored the darker, Sith-centric corners of the galaxy, appears to be benefiting from that spillover.
But the return has reignited a conversation about the show's end. Fan communities on social media have responded with a mix of vindication and lingering frustration, with the hashtag #RenewTheAcolyte resurfacing on X. The sense among its supporters is that the show was caught in a perfect storm of high cost, an unfamiliar era of Star Wars history, and a coordinated backlash that distorted its actual reception. The show's first season drew 4.8 million views on its premiere day and 11.1 million in its first five days, making it Disney+'s biggest series launch of 2024. It was also, per Disney, the second-most-watched show on the platform for the entire year.
Set roughly a century before The Phantom Menace, The Acolyte follows a former Padawan and her Jedi Master investigating a series of crimes connected to the mysterious rise of the dark side. Its cast included Lee Jung-jae, Carrie-Anne Moss, Manny Jacinto, and Dafne Keen. Jacinto has since said publicly he would love to return to the role. Disney has made no announcements about a revival, and Lucasfilm has clearly scaled back its streaming output, focusing instead on The Mandalorian and Grogutheatrical release this May.
For now, The Acolyte sits at number nine on a chart it was never supposed to return to. Whether that matters to anyone with a greenlight button remains to be seen.
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This story was originally published April 25, 2026 at 6:43 AM.