Jesus and the Acolyte
When the OG Fanboys Tried to Cancel Jesus
This year Disney took on the larger Star Wars mythos and presented a show based in what is called the High Republic, which is an era prior to the Skywalker Saga of films with the series The Acolyte. This was an ambitious project that sought to tell a story of a time that many casual fans may not even be aware of outside of references. But there have been games, books, and other media that dealt with this era within what was once called the Star Wars Expanded Universe. That massive collection of works is now called the Star wars Legends because Disney has worked to wrangle the convoluted licensed properties into the official first party canon and the licensed canon. My very personal opinion is that this was a good move by Disney because much of the expanded universe was not very good storytelling. In fact, the stagnation of technology and thinking within eons of time frustrated me as a fan. But, that is a minority opinion in super fandom.
Unfortunately, The Acolyte has not been renewed for subsequent seasons because of the reaction of gatekeeping canon fanboys (used as a generic term - I’m breaking my own style guide here for gender neutral language). These gatekeepers are essentially canon fundamentalists who believe only their interpretation or reading of Star Wars lore is the correct one. These fanboys exist across almost any pop culture franchise today and they truly think they own the art being created by others. My friend Nick Polk has discussed this in podcasts and his Substack TolkienPop!. The fundamentalists often ruin the art for casual and serious fans who understand that art is experienced personally, but created by another, and so we do not own the art. This is not to discount the deeply emotional ties we have to these works of art, but we cannot control where they go, nor should we try to control them. This is not one giant choose your own adventure process. There are writers and creators working to present stories that can be important looks into society through the lens of fiction.
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I enjoyed The Acolyte and am disappointed that it was canceled. I have similar feelings about Netflix’s live action Cowboy Bebop series that did not get a second season. It is a numerous list of shows and other media that have failed due to canon fanboys being fundamentalists. This got me thinking (and if you follow this Substack you know that might lead down strange paths) that the Pharisees of the first century C.E. were sort of OG canon fanboys in the context of Jesus’ followers. When presented with the ministry and life of Jesus, they could not fit that within their understanding of the canonical work of God. Jesus ate with sinners, he healed on the wrong day, his disciples did not follow all the correct rituals, and he even forgave sins.
Jesus broke the canon of the first century Jewish leaders by living out the law of love and invited others to do the same. When he did that, the OG fanboys immediately worked on getting Jesus canceled. They constantly harassed him, questioned his authority, and tried to turn public opinion against him. If there was X, Facebook, Reddit, or other social media in the first century, there would have been posts and trolling by the leaders to discredit and educate the “masses” on the true canon. The Pharisess and Sadducees even put aside their own canon arguments because they were not as deep as the two had with Jesus’ ministry.
Jesus healed on the Sabbath! That’s not canon! No one heals on the Sabbath!
Jesus disciples are not ceremonial washing their hands. No true follower of canon would neglect that.
Jesus claims to forgive sins! Canon says that only God can do that. We need to cancel this Jesus character!
The fanboys succeeded in canceling Jesus. Or so they thought. Spoilers: Jesus raised from the dead into resurrection. It was the ultimate renewal by a God who relationally called all to know God by seeing Jesus. We are living in the ongoing reality of an incarnate God who could not be canceled by human violence. Boom, mic drop.
Will The Acolyte be saved by a growing online petition? Who knows. It would be a good thing, but not as important as the renewal of Jesus, as God makes all things new.