The Acolyte Replacing The Mandalorian As The Main Star Wars Series?
The Mandalorian has been a massive success for Disney, as evident by the considerable number of spin-offs the series has produced, like The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, the upcoming Skeleton Crew, The Mandalorian & Grogu, and the untitled Dave Filoni film. But what happens once the Mandoverse has told all its tales? Well, as it turns out, the upcoming The Acolyte series might replace The Mandalorian as the main Star Wars serialized television release.
The Acolyte Season 2 Is In The Works
Leslye Headland, the showrunner of the upcoming The Acolyte, recently revealed that she pitched the series as a multi-season show and that there have already been discussions of a Season 2. She also added that Season 1 won’t end with a massive emotional cliffhanger, but there will be some loose narrative threads that perfectly pave the way for Season 2. The possibility of a second season, paired with the upcoming The Mandalorian movie, might signal the passing of the mantle of Disney’s greatest show from The Mandalorian to The Acolyte.
Disney Is Shifting Gears
Second seasons are a rarity at Disney, which has a documented history of canceling its young adult shows early, and to date, no MCU series has aired a second season. The Mandalorian, Ahsoka, and Andor were renewed, while the weaker shows, The Book of Boba Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi, were stuck as one-season wonders. So, having discussions about the second season of The Acolyte before the series even released spells confidence in its success with the audiences.
Then again, given the overall state of the franchise, no matter what the cast and crew of The Acolyte believe, things can change in an instant. Remember the Rian Johnson movie trilogy? Or the constant stop-and-start of Patty Jenkin’s Rogue Squadron?
The Mandalorian Is Getting A Little Long In The Tooth
Pair that with the fact that The Mandalorian has expanded quite significantly and that the third season has been the series’ weakest one thus far; we might be staring at its ending. Of course, no ending was announced, and Jon Favreau already shared that he’s writing the fourth season of the series. But considering that no one has uttered a word about it since the upcoming movie was announced, it doesn’t give us much hope that the series will live long enough to see its fifth season release—so, passing on the mantle to The Acolyte might be a logical next step.
A Different Time
It’s also worth noting that The Acolyte is fundamentally different compared to The Mandalorian and other Star Wars releases. While other Star Wars shows take place between trilogies, The Acolyte is set between the High Republic novels and the prequel trilogy, which provides a blank slate for writers and showrunners to work with. Given the in-universe era and the timespan this might imply, we might be truly looking at a new multi-season centerpiece of Disney+’s Star Wars live-action universe.
Not Much Longer To Wait
There’s a real possibility that The Acolyte will replace The Mandalorian as Disney’s biggest serialized television release, especially since the possibilities for new spin-offs are virtually endless now. However, The Acolyte is still months away from release, and we have no way of knowing how well audiences will receive it—which is the ultimate test that will determine its fate.
