There’s been a strong reaction to the cancelation of The Acolyte, the latest Star Wars series to stream on Disney+. The controversial series had its fans and detractors, and it was also the first of these shows to be outright canceled. Shocking many with The Acolyte’s abrupt culling, the end of The Acolyte speaks to the weakened “power of the many” for the franchise as a whole.

Star Wars hasn’t had a theatrical movie in half a decade, despite Disney still churning the property out. More than ever, it’s also stuck in the context of the Skywalker Saga, despite the franchise having much more potential. There are various pitfalls that could come about in the next planned film involving its ties to other TV shows. Still, forging ahead and shaking off the branding barnacles that have accumulated are what’s needed to keep further Star Wars shows or movies from being canned.

Star Wars Has to Keep Moving Beyond Nostalgia

Sticking only to the Skywalker Saga shrinks the Galaxy Far, Far Away

One thing that fans of The Acolyte said that the series had going for it was the basic premise and scope. The series involved Force witches and other concepts that weren’t really focused on in previous productions, and it was also set in the era of the High Republic. This ensured that it wasn’t simply a retread of the Skywalker Saga, which has continued to dominate the narrative of the brand. Said obsession with tying things to that family was a big part of why many had issues with the Disney Sequel Trilogy. It’s a nostalgia-based act that’s quickly tiring even the most devoted fans, and it’s certainly not something that the brand can keep doing.

At the same time, new efforts and avenues aren’t automatically interesting, which has seen a declining engagement for the franchise’s TV shows. Currently, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is having to resort to nostalgia in order to get people interested in its offerings. This could be seen in Spider-Man: No Way Home and the recent Deadpool & Wolverine, the likes of which are the biggest hits for the MCU after the release of Avengers: Endgame. While this will work in the short term, it’s unknown where the shared universe will go from here to get things back on track for the foreseeable future.

Even if this path is successful, there’s a risk of simply retreading the past instead of doing new things with what fans are interested in. This could arguably be seen in brands such as the Batman movie series, which frequently reboot and feature the same villains. If Star Wars wants to keep from simply being a brand of “the greatest hits” on replay, it has to keep trudging forward and not being afraid of breaking new ground. While The Acolyte may not have been the best example of this, it showed that the franchise needs to escape the shackles of telling the same story over and over again.

The Mandalorian & Grogu Can Offer Closure to Certain Star Wars Shows

Tying a Canceled Show Like The Acolyte to a Successful Property Can Properly Conclude It

The next Star Wars movie to come to the big screen will be The Mandalorian & Grogu, which is a spinoff of the Mandalorian TV series on Disney+. That series was the first of these Star Wars shows on the streaming service, and it was a major success in its first two seasons. While not all of the succeeding shows were tied to its story, The Mandalorian represented its own little corner of the franchise. There were even rumblings that the planned Star Wars movies (of which The Mandalorian & Grogu is the one with the most momentum) would climate into a sort of crossover on the big screen involving the stories of the various shows.

There’s a risk of simply retreading the past instead of doing new things with what fans are interested in.

Something like this could be used to bring clarification to different plot threads, especially for shows that are over. After all, while The Acolyte was officially canceled, The Book of Boba Fett was more quietly brought to an end. Thus, there are a lot of loose ends that need to be tied up, and the big screen might be the best way to do it. After all, The Mandalorian & Grogu is set to come to theaters 7 years after Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker, so there’s a lot riding on its release. While using it to bookend some of the canceled shows might sound logical, it also comes with a few issues.

The Next Star Wars Movie May Repeat a Marvel Mistake

The MCU No Longer Doing Standalone Stories Doomed The Multiverse Saga

The risk in using the next Star Wars movie to tie into the shows has been seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which also tried to bridge the gap between its streaming and theatrical productions. One example was in Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness, which built upon the events of WandaVision. Of course, those who had never seen the streaming TV series were utterly confused by the movie’s events and the sudden turn of development for Wanda Maximoff.

Star Wars could further alienate viewers by making its narrative confusing, and it’s in no position to do so.

Likewise, it’s arguable that similar issues plagued The Marvels, which featured Carol Danvers alongside Photon and Ms. Marvel, two characters who debuted in Disney+ shows. Thus, it’s not hard to see how uniting movies and TV is a huge gamble, namely if the latter wasn’t widely watched by moviegoers. Star Wars could further alienate viewers by making its narrative confusing, and it’s in no position to do so.

Star Wars is arguably in a more precarious state than Marvel Studios’ brands, as at least those movies can succeed (perhaps temporarily) through nostalgia. Star Wars is coming to the end of that rope, and there’s also a lot to be questioned concerning the viability of Dinn Djarin as a movie character. Thus, using his film to close the door on certain other stories might be too much, as it will already be a lot to handle for those who’ve never seen his show.

How the Mandalorian Movie Can Save Star Wars

The Mandalorian Can Help Star Wars Get Back on Track With New Stories

Even with all of these risks and issues, The Mandalorian & Grogu is the best chance for the Star Wars franchise to get back on track. After all, the show that it’s based on is the most successful Star Wars streaming series overall, especially in terms of engagement from audiences. Likewise, while it eventually began to falter and include more “mainstream” Star Wars heroes such as Luke Skywalker, it mostly expanded beyond the story of the main series of films.

Now, the premise is jumping to the big screen, where it can do something similar for the brand as it returns to the home of Star Wars. The galaxy far, far away needs something big to get people interested again and flocking to the theater, as the first major movie in seven years being anything but a box office success would certainly be a black eye on the brand.

Likewise, setting the stage of success with something new that doesn’t simply rehash the first nine episodes of the film series would be a big win in terms of moving things forward. Even those who never watched The Mandalorian would likely recognize certain elements due to the discourse surrounding the introduction of “Baby Yoda” when the series debuted. It’s been a few years since then, but this could definitely provide some level of momentum in the grand scheme of things.

This is important in order to change the aura of the brand into one of positivity. While it might not bring The Acolyte or any other canceled project back for those who enjoyed them, it could go a long way to healing Star Wars and making it truly relevant again.