By Two shows that have been the target of the wider range of discussion on the practice of ‘review bombing’ have been Amazon’s “The Boys” and Lucasfilm’s “Star Wars: The Acolyte”.
“The Boys” showrunner Eric Kripke has already discussed the topic over the years and has made his feelings very clear. His show was subjected to it in the second season over its shift in release strategy, and recently over its political leanings.
“The Acolyte” on other hand has only aired its first season and has found not just the series but individual episodes seemingly targeted.
Showrunner Leslye Headland, who has been pretty upfront and out there pushing the show, was recently asked about “The Acolyte” reaction and more specifically the review-bombing. She tells Collider they were expecting it:
“Oh, yes. Everybody knows what review bombing is like. Truly when the show first came out, my publicist was like, ‘OK, with the review…’ I was like, ‘Does anybody take that seriously anymore?’
Perhaps the average… I understand the point of it, which is that the average viewer would look at the site and say, ‘Oh, the user review is really low.’
But I think that, if you’re in the Star Wars fandom, I think you already know what review bombing is. So I guess if you’re totally new to the fandom and you’re considering watching the show, it could affect you.
But I also think that my work in the past has been very word-of-mouth anyway, so I don’t know if it… I think that because behind the scenes, we all know what it is – it’s not that it’s not concerning – but I think it’s pretty expected. I would say.”
Separately, talking to Inverse, Headland says the use of Kylo Ren’s theme in The Stranger’s final scene in episode 5 is quite deliberate: “Ah, wish I could [tell you]. It is there on purpose, but I can’t tell you why, and I can’t go into what it is. But you shall see.”
The show’s sixth episode is out now with the seventh hitting July 9th and the finale on the 16th.
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