Director Gareth Edwards’ Rogue One: A Star Wars Story easily became the best Star Wars movie of the Disney era. Even so, few could have predicted that writer Tony Gilroy would also turn Rogue One into a launchpad for Andor, one of Star Wars’s best live-action productions in general. With Andor season 2 finished and the story of Diego Luna’s tragic hero, Cassian, concluded, the series cemented itself as another example of the galaxy far, far away’s creative versatility.
There is no question that Andor’s approach to realism is decidedly different than much of the franchise’s more operatic sci-fi adventures. While the Disney+ Star Wars series’ adherence to grit and realism might not strike a chord with fans who appreciate the franchise’s more fantastical side, it’s still a triumph for its image as a whole. Whether realistic or mystical, Andor shows across two seasons how this franchise’s sandbox rewards different sci-fi subgenres without losing its identity or needing a big legacy name to sell it.
Making familiar Star Wars territory feel new
On paper, Andor doesn’t necessarily cover novel ground in terms of its placement in the vast Star Wars timeline. Millions of fans are familiar with the window before and during the age of Rebellion. It’s a period that audiences have seen explored at length in the mainline movies, in addition to seeing, reading, and playing through more stories told in supplemental media.
Even so, with a complete story under its belt told neatly across two seasons, Andor makes this classic era in Star Wars’ mythos refreshing by exploring new (or seldom explored) perspectives in live-action. Taking the story to the grassroots level and away from the Skywalker legacy, Andor shows the grunt work that went into building up what would become the Rebel Alliance. It almost compels audiences to feel a newfound appreciation for the era. It’s a brilliant way to make the well-known outcome of the Skywalker Saga’s overarching story impactful all over again.
Part of that is thanks to the powerful performance by Andor’s leading man and how the supporting cast complements his story. Luna makes a character who has existed for less than 10 years and has only one other live-action appearance as nuanced as many vintage Star Wars characters. The Rebel agent’s weary, cynical, and battle-hardened demeanor appears sincere to the audience in a grounded way not often depicted to this extent in live-action Star Wars. Naturally, that makes all the sacrifices and losses he endures throughout Andor and his heroic death in Rogue One all the more visceral. He sacrificed any semblance of the companionship and tranquil life he and so many others deserved.
A supporting cast as three-dimensional as its hero
Beyond the Disney+ series’ reluctant hero, Gilroy and company must be commended for developing the main cast. One such standout is Genevieve O’Reilly’s Mon Mothma. From having less than 30 seconds of screen time in her Star Wars: Return of the Jedi debut to becoming a key player in both seasons of Andor, few side characters from the original trilogy have been fleshed out in Disney’s live-action productions with such care. She effectively served as the driving force behind Andor’s sci-fi political thriller plot lines, parallel to Cassian’s sci-fi-themed espionage missions. Navigating the Senate’s red tape while under the Empire’s watchful eye felt claustrophobic in its own right, steadily closing the walls in on Mon and her allies.
It’s a high level of attention to detail spread evenly across its nuanced characters, whether it’s Stellan Skarsgård’s Luthen Rael or Adria Arjona’s Bix Caleen. Luthen was a relentless fighter in the covert war against Imperial oppression, but the way he could look upon some of his agents as tools and work with a mechanical, frightening efficiency almost felt psychotic at times. A character trait that wonderfully feeds into Saw Gerrera’s (Forest Whitaker) assertion that “revolution is not for the sane.”
Meanwhile, Bix’s arduous journey as a rebel and survivor gave her character a welcome sense of agency, whereas plenty of other Hollywood blockbuster productions would have been satisfied with leaving her as a love interest. Her struggles, perseverance, and fight for independence were consistent throughout her arc, including when they were at odds with Cassian’s soldier-like paranoia.
Even Denise Gough’s Dedra Meero and Kyle Soller’s Syril Karn were far beyond being mere mustache-twirling villains. The Imperial duo were disturbing manifestations of what a life of authoritarian indoctrination can look like but still let inklings of humanity bleed through. From Syril’s violent awakening to the horrors he’s helped loose upon the world to Dedra practically forcing herself to feel the grief of his death in the Ghorman genocide, there were shreds of sympathy in these ultimately fascistic antagonists.
Andor can be a rising tide for the Star Wars franchise
In a franchise that’s still trying to figure out its next major era theatrically, part of what’s garnered Andor so much praise is its sobering approach to the rebellion and the key players it presents. While it would be both reductive and condescending to fans to call it something as silly as “Star Wars for adults,” it does manage to portray the Empire in a uniquely sinister light. There’s no shortage of crimes against democracy and humanity among the Imperials across Star Wars media. However, by going in a more realistic and intimate direction with its story and characters, the horrors of authoritarianism feel much more visceral. Instead of seeing the Jedi and Sith’s epic and age-old duels, Andor’s political and spy-themed sci-fi lens makes the Empire vile on a deeply personal level.
But amid the acclaim since the Disney+ series’ 2022 debut, there has been some online discourse over Andor being a departure from other live-action Star Wars projects. That’s a strength in this case, as Gilroy’s decision to adopt the “gritty and realistic” tone is a refreshing change of pace in a franchise that’s pretty consistent in its whimsical, operatic, and pulp sci-fi elements. Andor is earning a rapturous reception for feeling like a breath of fresh air. That said, it doesn’t mean most or all future Star Wars productions need to emulate that atmosphere, nor should they. There should be mysticism, melodrama, fantasy, lightsaber duels, and more in Star Wars.
But rather than propping up Andor as a new defining point for the franchise’s future, it could just as well be the rising tide lifting other ships in their own ways. If nothing else, Andor telling an unflinching story of the war against tyranny should be a shining example of how Star Wars can toy with spy-thriller and political dramas in sci-fi while retaining the fundamental themes that make it so iconic and timeless. It’s similar to how The Mandalorian broke new ground for live-action Star Wars on TV through the framework of a Clint Eastwood-style Western. Lucasfilm’s Star Wars universe is a limitless canvas for sci-fi fantasy. So, rather than looking at how it can find a new definitive style or rely squarely on nostalgia, Andor is an inspiration of how versatile Star Wars truly is, if it’s allowed to be.
Stream Andor on Disney+.
