Andor, created by Tony Gilroy, has defied expectations by becoming a critically acclaimed Star Wars series. Its success is surprising, given the initial resistance from some viewers who associated it with the Star Wars franchise. Unlike typical Star Wars installments, Andor lacks lightsabers, the Force, and iconic characters like Darth Vader or Yoda, instead focusing on a political thriller narrative.
The series delves into the backstory of Cassian Andor, illustrating how an authoritarian government pushes its citizens towards rebellion. Its realistic portrayal of rebellion, detailed settings (such as supermarkets and hospitals), and attention to detail help to immerse viewers.
The show boasts an impressive team including Gilroy, known for his work on the Jason Bourne series, and Diego Luna, who played the leading role. Writers such as Beau Willimon and talented actors like Fiona Shaw and Stellan Skarsgard further elevate the production. Gilroy draws inspiration from various historical events and figures, including the Viet Cong, French Resistance, and Russian Revolution, adding depth and nuance to the story.
Andor's success isn't just critical; it's also commercially viable. Despite initial lower-than-expected viewership, word-of-mouth marketing and positive critical reception generated an extra $300 million in subscriber revenue for Disney+.
The show's creators are confident that Andor has pushed the boundaries of what is possible within the Star Wars universe. The reception indicates a preference among some viewers for a more mature, politically charged, and grounded Star Wars narrative.
‘A lot of people will not watch Andor because it’s Star Wars,” says Tony Gilroy, the creator of the show whose second, and final, series ends this week. He is baffled, possibly a bit angry. “The resistance is shocking. There are so many people who love my work. They will say, ‘Man, I saw Dolores Claiborne!’” Gilroy, 68, wrote the screenplay for the 1995 Stephen King adaptation. “Then they’ll ask, ‘What else you been doing?’ What else?! I’ve been on Andor for six years! They say, ‘Oh, but that’s Star Wars. I’m not watching that.’”
Andor is, by some distance, far, far away the finest achievement in the ever-expanding Star Wars canon. It tells the story of Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), the revolutionary who paves the way for the blowing up of the Death Star in George Lucas’s first film, made in 1977, and was originally introduced in the excellent movie Rogue One (2016).
Genevieve O’Reilly as Mon Mothma and Ben Miles as Tay Kolma
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Andor the TV show beefs up the character and the storyline, focusing on the way an authoritarian government — the Empire — pushes its people to rebel. The first series was nominated in the outstanding drama category at the Emmys, shoulder to shoulder with shows that adults are proud to say they watch, including Succession and The White Lotus.
Gilroy also wrote the best Jason Bourne films and directed the superb white-collar thriller Michael Clayton, starring George Clooney. Luna, meanwhile, got his break in the acclaimed Mexican indie Y tu mamá también. Added to that, Beau Willimon, the creator of the US House of Cards, is one of Andor’s writers and the show has, along the way, starred Fiona Shaw, Stellan Skarsgard and Ben Mendelsohn.
These are all serious talents, and in my experience naysayers get fully on board with Andor by the end of the first three episodes. The show’s attention to detail helps: Andor imagines supermarkets, hospitals, even meals (reminding me of Eddie Izzard’s sketch about Darth Vader getting antsy with staff in the Death Star’s canteen: “No, I will not need a tray”).
“People don’t have to know anything about Star Wars,” Gilroy says. “You can just jump right in.” While audience numbers were lower than expected for the first series, reports this week suggest some of the refuseniks have been turned, with word of mouth helping Andor to add $300 million in subscriber revenue to Disney+.
So what exactly is different from Star Wars? First, there is no Darth Vader or Yoda. There are no lightsabers, there is no Force. The story plays out more like a political thriller, featuring propaganda, drugs and, rather startlingly, a scene where the rebel Bix (Adria Arjona) is sexually assaulted by an officer of the Empire.
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“We changed what’s possible,” Gilroy says of a franchise that had become overstretched and convoluted. Surely, though, there was pushback from the overlords about how far Andor could go? “There are sexual and violent things we cannot do,” Gilroy says. “But I thought it would be a lot more restrictive. There is no limit on the emotional violence we can carry out — Diego and I were both shocked. We open with a guy who goes to a brothel to look for his sister and kills two cops who try to f*** with him. That was the buy-in.”
Tony Gilroy and Diego Luna on the set of Andor
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Luna laughs. “I love how you pitch it! You have to pinch yourself many times through the process. We would wait for a phone call on the weekends to rein us in but, suddenly, it would be Monday and everyone is acting normal. The way we discuss the series is like the way we discuss theatre.”
What Andor does is flesh out the politics inherent to Lucas’s original idea. Gilroy’s reference points, I kid you not, are the Viet Cong, the French and Dutch resistance movements, the Russian and French revolutions, Thomas Paine, Mao, Oliver Cromwell …
“I have 1,500 pages to write,” the director says, beaming. “I could do a novel. But the mandate was to take this five-year tranche of Star Wars history, where there’s a revolution boiling. Who is ever going to ask me to do anything like this again? So all the crap I studied my whole life, my bedtime history reading and podcasts? That stuff fascinates me and here’s an opportunity to use it on this huge canvas. I want to drop the mic on revolutions.”
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What does he think is the tipping point for a rebellion? “It’s the pettiness and small expressions of power,” Gilroy says. “The bent stuff that comes with a badge or uniform. If you’re a foot soldier in the Empire, you’re not thinking, ‘Great — one day we’ll take over the galaxy.’ Instead, you’re thinking that your badge can make you not pay for something, or try to molest a farm worker. That’s the real horror of authoritarianism — what happens on the street.”
Fan forums are alight with discussion of the show’s contemporary resonances. Series two centres on the Empire’s desire to take over the planet Ghorman — a large, politically autonomous region steeped in tradition that also happens to have useful minerals. In other words, Greenland. “Yeah, that’s a question I roll away from,” Gilroy says with a smile, too canny to be drawn on Andor’s modern-day echoes.
For Luna, Andor has been a “dream job”. “This is bold, raw,” he says. “We’re creating a complicated scenario where there is no other choice but for a revolution to erupt. I’ve never felt such a connection with the audience.” He pauses, a little sad. “But I don’t want to get used to this, because it won’t happen again. I don’t think anybody will ever talk about a character of mine like this. Unless I do, say, Hamlet?”
Andor ends on May 13 on Disney+
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