Star Wars: The Acolyte Season 2 - Will It Ever Happen?

This article contains spoilers for "Star Wars: The Acolyte" Season 1

The first season of "Star Wars: The Acolyte" has come to an end, and while we don't have confirmation yet that Season 2 is on the way, what we do have is a lot of unanswered questions and dangling threads. There's emotional closure for Osha and Mae (Amandla Stenberg), a brutal end to the story of Sol (Lee Jung-jae), and answers for what really happened on Brendok. But at the same time that the twins wrap up one arc, they step out onto the uncertain path of another, and there are powerful forces lurking in the shadows.

Unlike "Obi-Wan Kenobi," which was announced and planned as a one-off miniseries, "The Acolyte" clearly has the potential for many more episodes. More than any live-action "Star Wars" TV show since "The Mandalorian," it has virtually limitless places it could go, as there's no sequel trilogy or Battle of Scarif waiting on the horizon of the timeline. Showrunner Leslye Headland and multiple cast and crew members have discussed their desire to keep the story of "The Acolyte" going, but high budgets and uncertain success stand in the show's way.

Let's take a deeper look into why "The Acolyte" hasn't been renewed for Season 2 yet, how likely another installment is, and what kinds of stories it could cover.

Typically, Disney has been hesitant to overcommit on their expensive "Star Wars" TV shows. There have been exceptions, like "Andor" being commissioned for two 12-episode seasons all at once, but "Ahsoka" Season 2 was only announced months after the first season ended on Disney+. The lack of an official "Acolyte" renewal isn't necessarily cause for concern right now. It's an expensive decision for Disney to make, but the current silence isn't a death knell — yet.

Part of the appeal of "The Acolyte" is that it's relatively disconnected from most other major "Star Wars" projects. Unfortunately, that could also be reason enough for Lucasfilm to abandon it before it gets a chance to properly complete its story. Canceling "The Acolyte" wouldn't really impact the other big movies and shows that Disney has on the horizon.

As far as viewership numbers and fan response, there's both good and bad. The series was slammed with a review-bombing campaign early on, led primarily by the "anti-woke" brigade, but critics have been far more positive. "The Acolyte" had 2024's biggest Disney+ premiere, but those numbers were still lower than most of the other live-action "Star Wars" shows. However, "The Acolyte" also benefited from a big mid-season boost in fan excitement, thanks to a stellar lightsaber battle in Episode 5, "Night," and the introduction of a dark side romance arc between Osha and Qimir, aka the Stranger (Manny Jacinto). This resulted in a fan campaign taking root, urging Lucasfilm to renew the show.

Showrunner Leslye Headland has made it very clear that she would like to continue making "The Acolyte," and that there are plenty of stories waiting to be told in potential future seasons. She revealed to Entertainment Weekly that she has "four or five major mysteries" still waiting to be explored in Season 2, but she also said that she was hesitant to leave too much unresolved. "It feels like everyone's really expecting [their shows] to get a second season, and I don't feel that's a good idea," Headland said. "I threw everything into Season 1, because who knows what's going to happen?"

As far as whether or not the show will actually get that second chance, Headland said that talks are ongoing. "I would say there are conversations," the showrunner told Nerdist. "And I don't know when that will happen. I don't know when that decision will be made."

While fans wait, Headland said the best thing they can do to help secure a Season 2 is keep talking about the show and how much they enjoyed it online. "It's a little tricky because of the way that the internet works," Headland told Collider. "But if you enjoyed the show and you want to see more of the story, any support that you can give the show on social media platforms would be super helpful. Sending love to the cast, too."

While "The Acolyte" star Amandla Stenberg hasn't said much about Season 2 at the time of this writing, her co-star Manny Jacinto has. In a recent interview with GQ, the actor, who plays Qimir — the dark warrior known as the Stranger on the show — shared his hopes for more of "The Acolyte" down the line. Specifically, he seemed to tease a more complete exploration of the implied burgeoning romance between his "Acolyte" character and Stenberg's Osha.

"In the fan art I've seen, there's a good amount that implies ... something between Osha and the Stranger," Jacinto said. "That's something that people, I think, have been yearning for in this genre, or at least in this IP, and I love that people are honing in on it and encouraging it." 

Episode 6 of "The Acolyte" is particularly focused on the relationship between the two characters, which many fans have compared to the "Reylo" ship from the sequel trilogy. That arc ended with nothing more than a chaste kiss before Ben Solo's death, but "The Acolyte" is teasing much more. "If people want it," Jacinto told GQ, "we can explore that in a subsequent season."

While the logistics of an "Acolyte" Season 2 are up in the air, there's no doubt as to the narrative potential. Season 1 ends with a bang, resolving the mystery of Brendok, revealing clues to Mae and Osha's origin, and putting the Jedi definitively on the backfoot. There are teases of fan-favorite characters and a brutal death for Master Sol, who's killed by Osha as she bleeds his kyber crystal to turn his lightsaber red.

Mae and Osha remain the stars of the show at the end, and they both get set on new paths for the potential Season 2. Mae volunteers to have her memory wiped, knowing that the Stranger can never trust her again but also fearing what the Jedi might do to her. This new Mae is freed in a way from the trauma that's driven her life up to this point, and she could go practically anywhere from there. Osha, on the other hand, chooses to train with the Stranger, using herself as the currency with which she buys her sister's freedom.

At the same time, it's heavily implied that the Stranger and Jedi Master Vernestra Rwoh (Rebecca Henderson) have a shared past. With all the chaos, for which Sol takes the fall, the Jedi face investigation by the Galactic Senate, and Vernestra calls in Yoda in the final scene to help deal with the aftermath.

Probably the biggest dangling thread at the end of "The Acolyte" Season 1 is Darth Plagueis, the famed Sith Lord first mentioned in "Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith," who appears midway through the season finale peering out of a cave on the Stranger's planet. We only get a brief look at his hand and part of his face, but if you know the old Expanded Universe (aka "Star Wars" Legends) lore, you'll know that Plagueis is a Muun, as is the man in the shot.

As if there were any doubt, Leslye Headland has officially confirmed that yes, that is indeed Plagueis. "I thought it was important that he be in the cave because, you know, the call's coming from inside the house," she told Collider. "He's already there in a very intrusive way. So, that was the thought around that. But yeah, baby, Plagueis."

The long-lived Sith Lord has barely been explored in the current canon, but he's pretty well fleshed-out in Legends. We know for certain — as Palpatine tells Anakin in "Revenge of the Sith" about his former master — that Plagueis was obsessed with the idea of immortality and conducted various dark Force experiments to create life. Some theories say that these experiments actually led to the creation of Anakin. Given Osha's own mysterious Force vergence origin, there's a lot of potential material to explore. Is Plagueis the Stranger's master? Is this all part of his grand plan? We'll have to hope for a Season 2 to answer those questions.

Dark Lords of the Sith and Jedi scandals aside, the most exciting thread left hanging at the end of "The Acolyte" Season 1 is definitely the burgeoning romance between Osha and Qimir, aka the Stranger. Episode 6 is packed with sexual tension and innuendo, and though Osha agrees to join him primarily to protect her sister, there's clearly more going on between them.

Headland has confirmed that fans are reading the situation appropriately — that there's tension there, and not just the pull of the dark side. Osha is obviously in a very vulnerable place after killing Sol and bleeding his lightsaber, but she also seems to be enjoying the empowerment of the dark. Her whole life, she's been lied to or manipulated by other people to become someone they wanted her to be. Now, finally, she is the one wielding the power, and Qimir, for all his villainy, seems to be genuinely supporting her — at least for now.

Obviously, the dark side is still a force of corruption. He may well have other, more sinister intentions with Osha, and Plagueis' presence on Qimir's planet makes the whole thing stink. Still, the promise of "Star Wars" getting a little sexy for once is intriguing. Rarely has the seductive nature of the dark side manifested so explicitly, and Season 2 could have some really fun, messy material to play with if the show gets renewed.

One of the other major storylines that could be explored in "The Acolyte" Season 2 is the declining state of the Jedi. Though the show takes place a century before "The Phantom Menace," the age of light and hope that the High Republic era is described as is already giving way slowly to the corruption seen in the prequels.

Vernestra Rwoh clearly knows more about Qimir than she's saying, but she lies to the Senate, claiming that the whole ordeal was caused by Sol — a single, well-intentioned Jedi gone bad. There's implicit shame in her lie, but we don't yet know exactly what she's hiding. It's a big enough deal for her to bring Yoda into it, with the little green guy (or, at least, the back of his fuzzy lil' head) popping up at the end of Season 1.

It seems likely that Senator Rayencourt, played by noted actor David Harewood, would have a bigger role in Season 2. Harewood is too big of a name to cast for a single scene, and he appears to be leading the Republic faction that distrusts the Jedi. As of now, those doubts seem to be well-founded. There are clearly more secrets hiding in the shadows of the Jedi temple for Season 2 to unearth.

The cast for "The Acolyte" Season 2 would look quite a bit different, as many of the main characters of Season 1 are now dead. Sol, Jecki (Dafne Keen), Yord (Charlie Barnett), Mother Aniseya (Jodie Turner-Smith), Master Indara (Carrie-Anne Moss), Torbin (Dean-Charles Chapman), and Kelnacca (Joonas Suotamo) all bit the dust (or joined the Force, depending on your point of view). That's a lot of screen time to replace.

Plagueis is the obvious name to call off the bench, and it would be interesting to see who Lucasfilm might cast in the part. Muuns have historically been CGI, at least in part, and the shot of Plagueis in the "Acolyte" Season 1 finale follows that trend. For such a legendary character, you want an actor with real gravitas and creep factor providing the voice and performance capture. Names like Tony Todd, Tobin Bell, and Paddy Considine come to mind.

Vernestra Rwoh is clearly meant to have a larger role in Season 2 if it's ordered, as her connection to the Stranger may become central to the plot. And, as previously mentioned, Senator Rayencourt will likely have a bigger part as well. As for Yoda, the obvious choice is Frank Oz, but at 80 years old, it's unclear if the legendary actor and puppeteer would want to return. He last played Yoda in 2017's "The Last Jedi." Given the nature of the little green goblin, Oz could be replaced, but that would be a sad day for "Star Wars."

Although "The Acolyte" isn't directly connected to many other "Star Wars" stories, it could start pulling more heavily from the High Republic novels and comics going forward. Vernestra Rwoh is the only major High Republic character who appears in Season 1, and since the show takes place near the end of the era, it has a good amount of independence. However, were Lucasfilm to commit more resources to building out the world of the show, the existing High Republic material could provide tons of ideas.

Alternatively, even if "The Acolyte" itself doesn't get renewed, Disney could keep that part of the timeline going with other High Republic spin-offs. There's a whole subset of the "Star Wars" fandom that adores the books, so the audience is already present.

However, given how many loose ends there are at the end of "The Acolyte" Season 1, it really would make more sense to just keep the main show going. The Stranger in particular has become a quick fan favorite, and Lucasfilm wouldn't have introduced Plagueis if there weren't at least some vague plans in mind.

It may be a while before we know the fate of "The Acolyte." As previously noted, "Ahsoka" was left in limbo for months after Season 1 before "Star Wars" fans were informed that the show had been renewed. There's a ton of material left to explore, and the show has brought a truly unique setting and tone to the franchise. It's the kind of fresh project that Lucasfilm should be leaning into more, but will it actually get a second season?

Cost is obviously one of the big barriers. "The Acolyte" Season 1 is estimated to have cost around $180 million, which is a substantial investment. At the same time, it's generally easier to keep things going once the production machinery is in place. "Star Wars" has so many projects on the burner right now, though, that nothing is certain.

Perhaps the best hope that "The Acolyte" has at the moment is a second wave of viewership now that all eight episodes are out. Clips of the spectacular lightsaber fights have gone viral on social media for weeks, and that excitement has hopefully convinced some more casual fans to give the series a try. While the premiere numbers for "The Acolyte" weren't quite what other shows like "The Mandalorian" or "Obi-Wan Kenobi" received, we don't know how well the show has done since. All fans can do right now is cross their fingers, keep rewatching, and spread the good word.