Andor Is What Star Wars For Grownups Was Meant to Be
Star Wars has inspired an obsessive fandom since George Lucas first unleashed it on the world in 1977.
With a mix of political rhetoric, sci-fi essentials, love triangles and the ever-funny lightsabers, it's meant to appeal to all audiences, but has ultimately been geared towards children.
In recent years, the franchise has released several Disney+ series aimed at its older fans, telling serious, character-driven stories for adults.
Finally, with 2022's Andor, fans have the perfect Star Wars story for adults.
The move towards younger audiences began with 1983's Return of the Jedi, which featured the cuddly (and highly marketable) Ewoks. The prequel trilogy focused less on its script and more on its flashy lightsaber battles, something kids can try to imitate after buying their toys.
Even The Mandalorian – which righted the ship after the mixed reviews of the prequel trilogy – focused heavily on "baby Yoda" Grogu as a marketing ploy to increase interest among children.
But Andor is a story for adults. It's incredibly grounded – a spin-off of a solo film in a franchise full of trilogies. It features veteran actor Diego Luna in an emotional, subtle performance. It still offers the thrills of space travel and warfare without relying on the lure of lightsabers. It tells the story of fascism, minutiae and all.
Andor was created by Tony Gilroy, the Oscar-nominated creator of the Bourne film series. Gilroy knows how to tell an adult story, with nuanced dialogue designed to develop characters rather than sell a plot. The decision to shoot on location makes the series even more mature than the CGI-laden films of the past two decades.
While talk of the Force is seemingly inherent in Star Wars, it's not present in Andor. There is no real good and bad – the Rebels have their flaws, the Empire has its good. Everyone exists in shades of grey rather than the black and white of Sith and Jedi.
Perhaps most importantly, it doesn't rely on established characters to advance the plot.
A good chunk of the sequels was fan service; a major pull was the anticipation of seeing Luke, Leia and Han 32 years later. There's nothing wrong with that, but it doesn't make for a mature, well-rounded story. The same can be said of the prequels, which flourished because fans knew they were going to see the rise of Darth Vader, the character they'd come to fear a few decades earlier.
Gilroy and Andor have brought Star Wars full circle. As Lucas did with the original trilogy, it's more a story of new (unestablished) characters and their development than a simple space epic.