Shortly after its premiere, Star Wars: The Acolyte became the victim of an aggressive review-bombing campaign on sites such as Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic – but this isn’t the first time Star Wars has seen such a thing happen. The Acolyte has long since been fighting an uphill battle as a Star Wars TV show, in that it has both become the first major Star Wars project to be set outside the Skywalker saga and has one of the franchise’s most diverse casts to date. It’s quite different from anything seen in Star Wars before, which some do not like.

This type of vitriol and hatred towards The Acolyte is, unfortunately, nothing new for the franchise. The Star Wars sequel trilogy has long since been at the center of vehement opposition from many franchise enthusiasts, and a decade or so before then, it was the Star Wars prequel trilogy. These waves of hatred, however, have even more in common than what meets the eye. As it turns out, even review-bombing isn’t a new response, as it also happened about fourteen years ago to a now-beloved project.

The Star Wars Prequel Trilogy Was Review-Bombed On Rotten Tomatoes As Well

Revenge of the Sith’s Audience Score Dramatically Dropped In 2011

Long before Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith became regarded as the best of the three Star Wars prequel movies, it was also a victim of intense review-bombing. Originally, until as late as 2010, the audience rating of Revenge of the Sith on Rotten Tomatoes sat at a satisfactory 85%. In 2011, however, that percentage dropped to 64% before balancing back out at 65%. Even worse was the total number of votes it had received; it went from a total of 198,824 votes to 32,050,182 votes, creating a whopping 160,000% increase in votes out of nowhere.

At present, this audience score stands at 66% – which is fitting for the movie’s devastating yet memorable Order 66 sequence – but that small increase cannot and does not erase the history of what oddly happened between 2010 and 2011. Even stranger is the fact that this happened 5 years after the movie had already come out. It dropped the audience score down to where the other two prequel trilogy movies, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace and Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, had originally scored, as if trying to prove some unknown point.

The Patterns Are Exactly The Same

But Review-Bombing for The Acolyte Began Before It Even Came Out

The patterns between what happened to Revenge of the Sith and what is currently happening to The Acolyte are exactly the same. Almost as if this era of the Star Wars timeline has some kind of curse, these projects are both falling victim to intense review-bombing with no clear motivation. The Acolyte is currently sitting at a 13% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, which is a stark contrast to its critic score of 84% – and makes this the lowest-rated Star Wars project in history, somehow even more so than the infamous Star Wars: Holiday Special.

While both these projects, of course, ought to come with a healthy amount of criticism in all aspects, the way some Star Wars audiences are responding to them now just like the way they did fourteen years ago is extremely disheartening.

There are other similar patterns between the two beyond just review-bombing. Members of the cast are being criticized left and right for their acting, and even the most minute details – such as Ki-Adi-Mundi’s age – are being blown out of proportion in a way that’s utterly shocking to witness. While both these projects, of course, ought to come with a healthy amount of criticism in all aspects, the way some Star Wars audiences are responding to them now just like the way they did fourteen years ago is extremely disheartening.

It’s Time For The Star Wars Fandom To Grow Up

This Behavior Accomplishes Nothing but Divisiveness Within the Fandom

Image via Disney+

The most discouraging part about all of this is having to come to terms with the fact that the Star Wars fandom has not yet learned from our previous mistakes. Everyone should have learned from the renaissance of the Star Wars prequel trilogy that approaching projects with hate leaves nothing except lost opportunities and divisiveness in its wake. Those who grew up with the prequels and were shamed for it really should know better now, and hopefully, those are not the same people who are going after The Acolyte in such a way.

This wave of vitriol and hatred has done nothing but harm those within and even outside the fandom, and the lesson somehow hasn’t been learned.

There is a stark difference between disliking a project and taking the time to review-bomb it. The beautiful thing about media is that it’s entirely subjective, and people’s preferences vary based on what they find to be the most entertaining or captivating. Criticism is also a normal part of media consumption, as it has and will continue to make positive changes when it’s delivered correctly. This, however, accomplishes nothing – nothing except infighting and deep hurt. Star Wars will not erase an entire project simply because of a bad Rotten Tomatoes score.

In sum, it’s time for Star Wars audiences to be better, and it’s been that time for many, many years now. From the prequel trilogy to the sequel trilogy and now The Acolyte, this wave of vitriol and hatred has done nothing but harm those within and even outside the fandom, and the lesson somehow hasn’t been learned. It is my hope that one day, movies and shows like The Acolyte can have varying reviews amongst the fandom while still being accepted as real, true, and valid additions to the Star Wars franchise.

The Acolyte episode 5 is now streaming. New episodes release Tuesdays on Disney+.