Manny Jacinto and the Tragedy of a Hateful ‘Star Wars’ Fanbase

The Star Wars franchise has always had a diversity problem. While the plethora of Wookies, Ewoks, Twi’leks, and Hutts (plus whatever Jar-Jar Binks is) suggests a galaxy teeming with variety — Star Wars creator George Lucas has even pointed to this alien menagerie as proof the franchise isn’t racist — it’s hard for fans to ignore white actors like Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Harrison Ford (Han Solo), and Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi) taking the lead in the franchise’s cinematic projects. In short: The Galaxy Far Far Away has long been dominated by white, masc men.

While Star Wars has worked on diversifying in recent years, some of its own cast members have spoken up about the problem. “Star Wars always had the vibe of being in the whitest, elite space,” said actor John Boyega in the Apple TV+ documentary Number One on the Call Sheet: Black Men Leading in Hollywood. 

Boyega debuted as the ex-stormtrooper Finn in the latest Star Wars trilogy. However, he has since faced online harassment from fans upset with a Black actor playing a lead role in the franchise. “You can always tell it’s something when Star Wars fans try to say, ‘Well, we had Lando Calrissian and had Samuel L. Jackson!’” Boyega said. “It’s like telling me how many cookie chips are in the cookie dough. They’re just scattered in there, bro!”

A New Hope?

So when LucasFilm and Disney Plus announced the cast of their Star Wars series The Acolyte in 2022, fans grew cautiously hopeful. The ensemble included Squid Game star Lee Jung-jae and Amandla Stenberg, known for her role in the Black Lives Matter-inspired drama The Have U Give — a promising sign that the franchise might finally be making room for more than the occasional diversity hire.

And at the heart of it all was Manny Jacinto, the Filipino-Canadian actor cast as the mysterious Stranger. Even before The Acolyte hit Disney Plus, there was buzz — not just from fans of his breakout role as the kind-hearted, if somewhat airheaded, Jason Mendoza on The Good Place, but because his casting marked a rare moment: an Asian actor taking center stage in a galaxy that had long sidelined people of color. 

Beyond much-needed representation, Jacinto brought with him a whole new level of eye candy that had fans thirsting and yearning after him. Shots of Jacinto flexing his well-toned biceps during gripping lightsaber duels — plus a wonderful scene with the actor shirtless — caused a physical stir among viewers. “I need him biblically,” wrote one X user. “I need him in a way that is concerning to feminism. Ok?”

“I feel like we took a lot of risks with this show,” Jacinto told IndieWire in an interview promoting the series. “I’m just incredibly proud of it. The fan base is incredible, [and] the character is something I’ve never been able to touch before.”

If only The Acolyte had survived more than one season, it could have reintroduced the world to Jacinto as a Force-wielding actor. But alas, the series was doomed almost as soon as it dropped its first two episodes.

While it currently has a decent 78 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes among critics, its audience rating is a dismal 19 percent (that’s pretty low for a Star Wars project). Unfortunately, The Acolyte fell victim to a harsh review bombing campaign, with fans flooding rating platforms with negative reviews and low scores to deter others from watching.

“Probably the worst thing I have ever watched,” wrote one Rotten Tomatoes user. “I don’t even know if the director has ever watched Star Wars.” Many other reviews echo the same sentiment, drowning out the helpless few trying to give the show its flowers.

But note that many of the same reviews tiptoe around the reasons why the show is horrible. Cases emerged of reviewers taking offense at the show’s diverse cast and its LGBTQ+ themes, sparking fierce online debates about whether or not the review-bombing was coming from a camp of homophobic, racist bigots.

“It’s gobbled in man hate, unnecessary wokenism, and changing the star wars history,” wrote one Reddit user reviewing the show in a thread (unfortunately) titled “The Acolyte — Woke, Wobbly, and Steeped in Feminism.” “Why is the Star Wars universe all of the sudden all black?” Another user wrote.

Where does this leave Manny?

Clearly, the bigot camp won, because The Acolyte was cancelled after one short season. Although Disney and LucasFilm never directly addressed the reasons behind the cancellation, reports have surfaced pointing towards low viewership, with many viewers dipping out after the second episode. What’s more, the show’s almost $200 million budget was hard to justify amid its less-than-lukewarm reception.

Jacinto was the first among the cast to break his silence on the cancellation. “I [tried] not to get too caught up in it,” the actor told Nuvo Magazine when asked about the racist backlash he and his co-stars had faced. “It’s a black hole…I also learned early on in my career that if you’re going to believe the good, you have to believe the bad.”

It’s unlikely that The Acolyte will ever get a second season, at least not for a long, long time. Although Jacinto has recently been dropping hints about the potential storylines a new season might explore — including his character’s true identity — nothing has been confirmed as of yet.

In the end, Star Wars failed Jacinto. For all its talk of inclusion and progress, the franchise was unable to protect one of its most promising stars when it mattered most. What’s more, despite the significant number of fans who enjoyed the show (either for its narrative or for Jacinto’s amazing physique), LucasFilm and Disney bent to the will of the much louder (and much more hateful) fanbase. The bad guys won this time: Not with a Death Star, but with comment sections, rating scales, and downvotes. And the galaxy is so much smaller for it.