The Acolyte proved to be an incredibly controversial Star Wars TV show, but I’m still convinced there’s a way for the show to come back and be better than ever—and I think it would actually be popular. The Acolyte season 2 was seemingly scrapped, although it wasn’t technically a cancelation; the show just wasn’t picked up for season 2.
The Acolyte ending suggested there was hope for another season, as the conclusion set up various plotlines with plenty of potential. Unfortunately, presumably due at least partly to the backlash to The Acolyte, the show wasn’t renewed, and its future seems grim. Yet, one storyline from The Acolyte could see a spin-off for the show that may actually be celebrated.
The Acolyte Season 2 Can Cheat The System
While we may never get a show outwardly identified as The Acolyte season 2, there is one obvious way Star Wars could skirt this issue, and that’s via a spin-off show. Immediately following the news that the show would not be picked up for a second season, this actually began to be a focus of online chatter.
Specifically, many felt the story of Qimir/the Stranger training Osha and eventually encountering Darth Plagueis, who had a brief but terrifying cameo in the show, could offer a brilliant story arc. This isn’t all that surprising; despite the downright hostility that the show was met with, Qimir was generally a popular character in the show.
He was also one of the fulfilled promises the show made before its release, given it was billed as a Sith story. The focus may have been on Osha and Mae, and the ending of The Acolyte nodded towards Osha becoming a Sith under Qimir’s training, but it was really only Qimir who would have met this description.
It’s also true that there were issues with the show, particularly certain aspects of the story, that fell entirely outside the racist complaints about the show that its actors were subjected to (which were, of course, wrong). Among those problems was the story’s lack of focus, with too many main characters and intersecting plots. A Stranger spin-off would resolve this.
Qimir And Plagueis Deserve A Follow-Up Story
Perhaps the single most exciting and chilling moment of The Acolyte was the cut to Darth Plagueis—in his on-screen debut—watching Osha and Qimir on the unnamed island from the shadows. Plagueis was horror movie level scary, and his appearance raised some fascinating questions.
The Acolyte was set in the High Republic Era, approximately 100 years before Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. As Plagueis is canonically Palpatine’s Sith Master, and Palpatine was the Sith Lord in the prequel trilogy, this cameo by Plagueis calls into question the Sith history at this point in the Star Wars timeline.
Presumably, Plagueis was already a Sith at the time. If that’s the case, though, was the Sith Rule of Two being undermined at this point, with both Qimir and Plagueis serving as Sith masters simultaneously? Moreover, at what point does Palpatine come on the scene, and what does that mean for Qimir and Osha’s fate?
Getting the answers to these questions and seeing them play out on screen would be thrilling and provide significantly more insight into the canon history of the Sith, which is something that continues to be sorely lacking in Star Wars movies and TV shows (and was therefore a letdown when The Acolyte largely failed to deliver on that front).
Qimir Actor Manny Jacinto Is Already On Board
While some may think this concept is far-fetched, I don’t agree. Perhaps the most important element of this is Qimir/the Stranger actor Manny Jacinto’s willingness to return to Star Wars, and despite the negative reception of the show, Jacinto has been clear that he is willing to return.
In fact, he’s made several comments about being dedicated to making The Acolyte season 2 happen. It’s therefore not at all out of the question that he would reprise his role in a spin-off show, which may be the closest we ever get to a true season 2.
Osha actor Amandla Stenberg may be a harder sell, due to the many attacks targeting her. Yet, they have demonstrated a clear love and passion for Star Wars for some time, even cosplaying as Padmé Amidala a few years back and getting beyond excited when Anakin Skywalker actor Hayden Christensen sent her a personal message welcoming her to the franchise.
It would be fair, in light of what she endured, for Stenberg to decline, but hope remains. This would make a follow-up to the cliffhanger showing Osha and Qimir side-by-side, with Osha’s dark side training set to begin, possible. There would undoubtedly be backlash to this show, and some would say it’s unnecessary and ‘no one wants it.’
I’m not convinced that’s the case, though, especially if Star Wars billed it not technically as The Acolyte season 2 but rather as a spin-off show that features one of the show’s best characters.