The Huge Gamble Andor's Showrunner Knows He's Taking With The Star Wars Community
The "Star Wars" franchise has grown even bigger in the last few years thanks to Disney+, with shows like "The Mandalorian," "The Book of Boba Fett," and "Obi-Wan Kenobi" all exploring different corners of the galaxy far, far, away. Lucasfilm is only just getting started too — there are plenty more live-action projects in the pipeline for the streaming service, including "Ahsoka," "The Acolyte," "Skeleton Crew," and "Lando." But there's also "Andor," which follows Diego Luna's titular spy in the time before "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" as he gets involved with the Rebel Alliance.
Of course, the 2016 movie ends with Cassian Andor and Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) sacrificing themselves to steal the plans for the Death Star. But Andor won't be such a selfless hero when the series picks up, as Luna told Total Film: "We find him in a place where he's not aware of how capable he is of transforming or being part of change or executing such a sacrifice, but he is the man that comes out from fighting since he was six years old. He's a very interesting, dark, wounded person. You're not going to believe that he's capable of what he does in 'Rogue One.'"
"Andor" is clearly going to have that same gritty feel that "Rogue One" brought to the franchise, aiming to put the "war" in "Star Wars." But showrunner Tony Gilroy knows that he's taking a big risk with fans in delivering such an ambitious series.
Tony Gilroy hopes Andor brings new fans to Star Wars
"Andor" is clearly going to be a much different beast compared to the wild adventures of Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and Grogu, and showrunner Tony Gilroy is taking something of a risk with the series. In a Disney press event promoting "Andor" that Looper attended, the "Rogue One" scribe noted that it simply wouldn't exist without the huge "Star Wars" community around the world. "That's what gave us the money and the momentum and the ability to make a show that's this insanely big, this abundant, and this difficult to make," he said. "That audience is our primary concern, and we want to bring something to them that is a completely different lane than what they've had before."
The showrunner also explained that while they focused on making the story feel grounded and real, the aim was doing it in a way that delivers what longtime fans are looking for in a "Star Wars" series while also bringing in new audiences. "Andor" has "the smallest domestic dramas and the smallest interpersonal relationships that are dropped down in the midst of epic tectonic revolutionary historical moments where people have to make huge decisions. Can we attract another audience that's interested in that as well? Can we marry those two things together? That's the gamble," Gilroy concluded.
The full "Andor" trailer definitely won fans over with its fast-paced action and stunning visuals, so hopefully, the series resonates with general audiences too because it's something new. It doesn't really relate to the Skywalker saga either, so it's not like newcomers need to watch its nine films in preparation for "Andor" when it starts streaming on September 21.