Andor saves Star Wars 

Spencer

May 30, 2025

Star Wars is a franchise that began in the 1970s with the release of A New Hope, and for years, the franchise was an incredible hit, grossing billions of dollars worldwide and amassing a fanbase that accounts for almost 1 in 4 internet users. However, more recent Star Wars media has generated controversy among the fans, starting with Disney’s purchase of Lucasfilm (the original Star Wars studio created by George Lucas) and the release of The Force Awakens. People turned against Star Wars, although they continued to produce movies and TV shows. However, recently Disney released the second season of their original series Andor, leading to a healing of the fanbase and almost unanimous praise of its quality. 

The series Andor follows the life of rebel pilot Cassian Andor, first introduced in the movie Rogue One. The series takes a new approach to the Star Wars universe, as it focuses on the lifestyles of more ordinary citizens in the galaxy under the Galactic Empire’s control (introduced in the original film A New Hope). Cassian is the protagonist of the series, which follows his personal conflicts with the Empire and his induction to the Rebellion. He is played by Diego Luna, a Mexican actor and director, best known for his role as Andor. 

The new approach Disney took to Star Wars made the sci-fi world more tangible, showing everyday objects and routines, such as having cereal with blue milk, going to work in a cubicle, watching television in an apartment, or even going shopping for fruit in a local market. Most Star Wars media is centered around major characters with special powers, like Jedi or Sith, or centered around major conflicts and wars. Andor instead follows an ordinary citizen who is fed up with the new dictatorship from the Empire, and shows the beginnings of a galactic revolution and the formation of an organized rebellion. 

The series also takes a darker and more “grown up” approach to the franchise. Instead of depicting soldiers being killed left and right by a soldier wielding a lightsaber, Cassian Andor kills two Imperial officers in the pilot episode, and is later captured and held accountable for his actions. In the second season, Andor’s girlfriend Bix is subjected to attempted sexual abuse and rape, and is forced to kill her assailant. These darker takes on Star Wars prove that Disney is attempting to create something new and better for the aging fanbase. 

Many recent Star Wars releases were major failures (The Acolyte, The Book of Boba Fett, etc.) and caused a lot of anger and distrust of Disney’s control and interpretation of Star Wars. But when they gave the fans Andor, the public responded by giving it a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and an 8.5/10 on IMDb, making it the highest rated Star Wars media ever, a huge success for Disney’s new Star Wars.