The online attack against The Acolytedoesn’t seem to be slowing down any time soon, and, evidently, the new target of this behavior is Star Warsmerchandise. The Acolyte’s cancelation has led to a massive response online, both with fans of the show sharing their disappointment and circulating petitions to renew The Acolyte and, sadly, with targeted harassment of the show and its actors on social media. While The Acolyte was certainly not one of the most popular additions to Star Wars movies and TV shows, the severity of the negative response to the show has been shocking.

Unfortunately, it isn’t only the show, its actors, and its creators that are being subjected to this treatment online, though. As inkbluelily pointed out on X, even the merchandise for The Acolyte has come under fire, with individuals rating the items with the lowest possible score across the board and leaving comments such as “The failure of one, The failure of two, The failure of Disney.”

These assholes are even review bombing THE MERCH!! How much more pathetic can someone get!! #RenewTheAcolyte #SaveTheAcolyte #AcolyteS2 pic.twitter.com/M1x1gJmNDD — 、ヽ｀ blue ヽ｀ᵇʸ ʲᵏ (@inkbluelily) August 26, 2024

The Acolyte’s Trolls Have Already “Won”

Perhaps the strangest aspect of this online behavior from viewers who did not like the show is that The Acolyte has already been canceled. Theoretically, it should be time for those who disliked the show to move on. If there was a trolling or review-bombing campaign attempting to have the show shut down, it worked. Continuing to go after the show, its actors, and its creators online now that the show is confirmed not to be getting a season 2 serves no purpose other than to spread hate.

There has also been plenty of discourse online between those who liked the show and those who didn’t, much of it coming down to arguments about whether the negative reviews and criticisms were done in sincerity and good faith or whether The Acolyte’s controversies were simply attacks based on aspects of the show, such as its diversity. Undoubtedly, there is some portion of the negativity that is genuinely coming from a place of constructive criticism; The Acolyte, like any piece of media, was not perfect. Moreover, it’s absolutely fine not to like a show.

However, it has become more than evident that the online behavior in response to this show goes far beyond simply not liking it or wanting to voice dissatisfaction with the direction Star Wars is going. If this merchandise doesn’t make it clear, then combing through the comments on Mae/Osha actress Amandla Stenberg’s social media posts certainly will. If the criticism was truly solely about disliking the show, then these comments would not decry ‘wokeness,’ specifically with comments regarding race, gender, and LGBTQ+ identity.

Although arguments have been made to the contrary, it is abundantly clear that the extent of this backlash is not about the quality of The Acolyte as much as it is about cutting down the actors, the creators, and the fans of the show. If it was truly about the writing, the pacing, or other valid concerns, then the identities of the actors and the characters would not be front-and-center amid this criticism. Moreover, attacking the merchandise of The Acolyte makes it clear that this latest wave of Star Wars hate is certainly not being done in good faith.