How Andor Solves Disney’s Biggest Problem
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- Опубликовано: 8 фев 2025
- Andor successfully neutralizes nostalgia in favour of telling a better story. It solves Disney’s problem of sacrificing storytelling to play things safe and allows Star Wars to exist beyond what audiences expect. No other Disney+ series has surprised us more and I believe Andor should be the standard of what comes next for all franchises that Disney owns.
#andor #disney #starwars #disneyplus
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Wow Hello, this has been a really sweet response :) do y’all want more video essays, more star wars, or other movies, topics, etc? Let me know what you'd like to see!
Absolutely ! I’m a big ‘The Shining’ fan ! Would love to listen your insights on this !
We wish Disney wouldn't rely on nostalgia, but nostalgia is what makes them money unfortunately. Andor is loved by most of the entire Star Wars community, but it still not as massive as the other shows from what I've heard, I doubt Disney will change too much, if nostalgia driven shows is was brings them more money, they won't stop. I do hope they change for the future.
Also great video.
Yes please - Your Star Wars analysis is some of the BEST I've seen! Tackling other franchises might be hard, but perhaps the MCU Phase 4 or Star Trek's current state. But you don't have to. Doing Star Wars is more than enough.
I've never seen Star Trek and i'm intimidated on where to start lol i need a guide. As for MCU i hopped off the bandwagon right around Infinity War, i actually felt that was the best movie and ending for the universe although Endgame had its moments. Phase 4 just looks like a total lack of effort, combined with overworking VFX houses to death as well as burdening Kevin Feige with too many projects (Thanks again Disney dicks) so nothing gets proper polish or enough time in the oven. I'm sure there's good projects in Marvel but i feel super-fatigued, pun intended, so unless its a No Way Home situation idk if I'd bother to watch.
@@kodakkevin I'd be glad to be your guide. So how shall I guide you - on here in chat or shall we email or use some other Social media to communicate?
It’s very refreshing to have a show that doesn’t rely on nostalgia, cameos and the force and Jedi to tell its story.
This 100%!
Rogue one did the same thing
@@BrickbuildsOrginalsvader:
SWTheory leaving the chat***
@@OscarBSilao Literally. His takes on Andor make him sound so stupid.
Andor absolutely outclasses any StarWars content ever made by Disney... It is a masterpiece
100%
Disney? It makes the OT look like kids stuff.
I love Andor, but under disney Star Wars games, comics, books, the final season of the clone wars and rouge one were all great. Don't use the word content when you really mean a few movies and the book of fett.
@@mcichon81 extremely valid point.
Star Wars content made ever*
I wish the execs at Star Wars would watch this video!
Andor tells an unfamiliar story that we know must have happened, using the familiar elements like the Stormtroopers and an aesthetic that fits right in with the original trilogy, but tells a story of someone we're barely familiar with.
This is the nostalgia we've been looking for!
It's disheartening that this show really isn't pulling down the numbers that the other Star Wars crap that Disney has squatted out have been getting.
I love that the first 3 episodes we don't even feel a glimpse of the Empire, aside from the starpath unit that Cassian stole. To me that really fleshed out the extent of the Empire and as the episodes went along we saw more and more Imperials and Stormtroopers. I think people that doubted the show may find season 2 more to their liking as the Empire will have an overwhelming presence, but for us season 1 fans we'll get many more stories told that aren't linked to the saga.
I think history will look back on Andor favorably. It has all the pieces to be a timeless classic.
I believe Andor was unlucky to follow Boba and Obi-Wan, both were disappointing
THIS IS SO SPOT ON!!!! Like, I KNOW I'm in Star Wars but not having it shoved in my face all the time has allowed this entirely new story to be told, and it's so refreshing! It's like I didn't realize how much I was drowning in the nostalgia before, but now having a show without it makes me realize just how bad the other stuff can be.
So. i just finished Andor two days ago, and i'm devouring every review i can get my hands on. lol. love yours. thank you!
Same here. Discovered a bunch of channels in the process lol
Thanks so much! 🤗
Same here! I’m just blown away with Andor. 10/10
Just finished my 2nd watching. I may watch a third time soon. My wife is a little worried for me. 😂
One of the best things about Andor is that the displacement that the commenter talks about deepens and enriches the Star Wars saga by showing how the Empire oppresses and brutalizes its possessions, and how the Rebellion is sparked by ordinary beings. But nostalgia is not just a Disney problem. Fans of Star Wars, Star Trek and various comic book franchises make a fetish of Canon and lore because they want the simple pleasures of nostalgia and fan service and legacy characters delivering the same old thrills. This is in part why Andor is a more modest success compared to more traditional fan favorite productions. The irony is that some fans complain about Disney owning Star Wars, but they want Disney to do what it often does so well, use its production expertise to churn out glossy, pre-packaged and pre-approved audience tested, safe product. Hopefully, the wide positive reaction to Andor will inspire Disney and Star Wars fans to want better and more creative stories.
When the marketplace rewards Disney to the tune of billions for exact shot-for-shot remakes of beloved films it’s hard for creators to carve out a space for new stories. Disney and LucasFilms get reviled for “killing” fans’ childhoods for taking the slightest chance. Fans want to see legacy characters that were frozen in time, who haven’t aged or changed. I think at this point, the company could easily make a ton of $$ by just re-releasing the originals and marketing it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to relive the magic in theaters.
@@ellicel lucas already did that, several times before he sold the franchise. Well, let's be fair to George, it wasn't shot for shot. He added cgi dinosaurs, ewok eyelids and that jedi rocks song
@@ellicel Exactly, just look at the reactions to hermit Luke in the Last Jedi.
Andor stayed extremely well within canon. It paid attention to details remarkably. It showed that one can tell unique and interesting stories with the SW universe and the excuse that constraints of an established universe "don't let me tell good stories" is just a bs excuse of lazy writers and directors.
This essay is like the show ANDOR: well written with good production value and raises points that are food for thought. Glad to have come across it.
You are right in that there’s definitely a discrepancy in how big studios define nostalgia. Instead of a feeling, an essence, that can be captured through good writing, they seem to only want to grasp the superficial familiarity (that the cynical me understand it to be the more profitable approach) of a beloved franchise.
I don’t consider myself a fan but I’ve always enjoyed the richness of Lucas’ universe. It baffles me when some people say that ANDOR does not feel like Star Wars because, to me, fighting oppression is the core message of this creation. Thanks for making this video.
Thank you so much! :) I do agree with your cynicism; but Andor gives me hope studios will take nostalgia more seriously. Maybe start reimagining what audiences yearn for instead of lazily regurgitating IP.
@@kodakkevin And I will happily jump on your optimism wagon. As a creative myself, the mere existence of ANDOR (amongst an abundance of SW productions) feels like a miracle because every unorthodox approach this show took was a risk. I, for one, am thrilled that this show got made; not because I want future shows to follow its exact footstep but because it was a much needed option for those viewers who are probably exhausted by the over saturation of the lackluster handling of their favorite IPs. ANDOR’s trailer was what pushed me to finally subscribe to Disney+ and reignite my interest for this franchise so fingers crossed that your wish will come true.
@@multipass113 And to think, a few years ago, folks were actually questioning if we 'Needed a series on Cassian Andor'.
Truth it, going back to Rogue One, ONE of the things I enjoyed was how the 'ordinary men/women/beings' on both sides did their duty to win if possible and survive. I imagine thousands of skirmishes took place during the Galactic Civil War that had NOTHING to do with the Jedi, The Sith or the Skywalker saga.
I would even enjoy a live action movie/series similar to 'Rebels'==except maybe grittier, no cute aliens and no Padwans. A 'cell' of rebels trying to stay alive, fed, their equipment working and their manpower preserved while striking at the Empire's interests. Maybe sometimes things get too hot and they have to abandon a system with allies, maybe sometimes they 'take a bad hit' and the plot armor fails and kills off a few main characters. Then the 'cell' meets up with other cells, rebuilds itself and strikes back to show their supporters 'we're still out there'--on and on, until it's "Zero BBY" and suddenly we're survived to make it to Endor and pushing on to Jakku.
It definetly feels like star wars I agree. Star wars is about the universe. I am not a hater of anything star wars. I liked the prequels before they were cool. My issue, even though I enjoyed the sequels, they didnt expand the lore and left us where we started. Andor rocks because it expanded the lore. It show the character and viewpoints of the rebels. The prequels did this with the jedi and sith and the Mandalorian is doing this with the mandalorians. All these properties follow star wars very closely.
I have always believed after Lucas sold the rights, that the true future of Star Wars lies in telling new stories, in new ways, in new settings, within the Galaxy far far away. Andor is the first live-action show to actually set out to do that, in animation I felt much the same about Rebels. What happens is that these two feel (to me that is) more like Star Wars than many of the other outputs. I enjoyed watching the other outputs a lot, but in terms of freshness and engaging one to feel 'within that universe' rather than just watching another event from it, Andor stands out.
Book of Bobe Fett had an interesting tale to tell but abandoned it after 2 episodes in favour of nostalgia service to the old EU and to the fans of The Mandalorian. Mandalorian had a story to tell but it never felt very compelling apart from the adorable Baby Yoda and the investment most felt into its relationship with Mando. 2 of the 3 Sequels were pussy-footing around what to do with the legacy of Anakin in the 3rd generation, and largely failed to answer the question and divulged into fan and nostalgia service despite the fact they were treading non-canonized ground. Andor gets everything important right.
Yeah only that fans of the old EU for the most part hated the Book of Boba Fett.
Excellent video essay. Andor is my favorite series in many, many years. I felt like not a word was wasted. Every line was packed with meaning; every line counted. Even the smallest character had weight and one felt invested in everyone's fate. It was never over the top, but still dripped with drama. And the lessons were many. Please, please tell me there will be a season 2.
Disney doesn't know how to do Nostalgia properly. Corporate media is tabloid minded and nuance is beyond them.
Andor has some Nostalgia but it's mostly peripheral which feels natural. IMO Andor feels like very much like SW, just what SW was suppose to grow up to be.
Unfortunately, Andor has performed far more badly than the other Star Wars shows, so it wil lbe considered a failed experiment. I just hope word spreads and more people watch it.
@@kimmomagic 2nd season is already filming and it's supposed to be the final season as well. Whatever happened, it made it.
@@kimmomagic It is great but I have to agree it does not have the mass appeal as other star wars projects. I do not see many young kids liking the show. Even george lucas said star wars is intended for younger fans to grow up with.
@@garydavis4661 But all of us fans who grew up with the OT are in our fifties now! We deserve a show that has all the cringeworthy, dumb bits removed! I'm glad we finally got it.
@@garydavis4661 George Lucas: Star wars is for kids!
Also George Lucas: slices a man in half with a lightsaber
Great essay! My biggest complaint about SW has always been the unrelenting reliance on nostalgia at the expense of literally everything else. I read another article somewhere along the way, and the author said something along the lines of "Andor's greatest weakness may be that it's attached to the Star Wars universe." I'm praying that it lights a fire under the asses of whoever is making the decisions so we start seeing more excellent work like this show.
If you ever get a chance read Gilroy’s perspective on writing the show. He actually calls out Disney by saying “we’re writing a non cynical” version of Star Wars. I always knew that nostalgic and derivative material was not only uninspired but exploitive, I actually never thought of it as a cynical endeavor.
Edit: here’s the full quote from IGN
“We didn’t want to do anything that was fan service,” he explained. “We never wanted to have anything… the mandate in the very beginning was that it would be as absolutely non-cynical as it could possibly be, that the show would just be real and honest.”
The truth is everything you were talking about only really applies to Disney Star Wars. Maybe we should pull the plug on constant SW content and just look at the six great episodes we had already before talking about how the whole franchise is ruined
It was once said somewhere that Battlestar Galactica (reboot) is a compelling and well written political drama that happens to have a sci-fi setting and elements.
I think similarly Andor is a compelling and well written and acted political (and spy) drama that just happens to exist in the Star Wars universe.
to be fair the fans hated orginality when george lucas made the prequels. Fans have been all over the place.. and now I guess fans hate the mandalorian too
Andor is just as constrained by canon. If they fucked with canon to the extent the Obi Wan series did, there would've been just as big a backlash.
The reality is that Andor found an unexplored area of the Star Wars canon that had been revealed by Rogue One: the necessities of resistance movements. We don't see the meat and bone of the Rebel Alliance or how it came together in the main movies. Andor gives us that in a competent way.
It's funny how Andor doesn't even try to be a Star Wars show. Yet it is also the most Star Wars thing Disney has put out yet (in terms of Lucas his vision.)
It's filled with themes about family, revolution, oppression, (the force even albeit in a very different way than we're used to.), sacrifice, selflessness vs selfishness, and leaving your family their home to explore the world.
Brilliant essay, nails one of the biggest flaws of Disney's projects failures: the treatment of nostalgia. Expanding the lore, creating and exploring new characters and their stories is what The Clone Wars animated series got right, these are star wars stories of peripheral characters that had no development in the movies, yet their struggle in the conflict is what makes it an excellent product, and why fans now love Ahsoka, after introducing her as a new and annoying character on the CW
Your ending statement was so perfect! Andor just happened to take place a long long time ago in a galaxy far far away. That's the magic of Star Wars, the far far and long long away-ness of it all!! But it needs a good story. What doesn't need a good story?? Classic themes like family, balance, and power struggles are important. But they're best when they come out naturally. Through the story, and the long-far away place..
Very thoughtful video, I hope your channel blows up soon, you deserve it!
I truly believe this is some of the greatest Star Wars we’ve ever had.
"It does not prioritize fitting in the canon". True! But it still cares for it and does not step on the toes of canon. So it does not destroy nostalgia, it goes on from there without rejecting was has been before or perverting it like RJ did.
Great analysis ty 🙏 Its a hallmark of great storytelling when there is a wellspring of unique perspectives and insights. There's lots of enlightening essays on this show on YT because the writers, showrunners and entire production are at the top of their craft, know wtf they are doing and execute beautifully. Its rare! You know it when you experience it because it sticks in memory, and the more you go back over it / view it the more there is to appreciate. As far as the core of your thesis: another angle on this - is simply that there is a certain very common type of person that likes their burger a certain way .... like the first time they ate one that way, it was so emotionally satisfying it becomes part of their identity ... and they will keep eating it that way for the rest of their life. AND any alternative burger configurations feel strange. Its leaves them feeling bored and dis-satisfied, Because its not 'that familiar burger experience'. AND ALSO a subset within this type (honestly, deep down) really decided this was the best, most *normal* burger ... simply because people around them were and are still already eating it. So it must be good. They feel validated by the "tribe", and would feel ashamed and rejected if they thought others would think they were not acceptable if they were caught munching mustard burger with double pickles. Its really that way, strange as it is so this is a huuuuge financial pressure on studios and creators to give what they *think* the people want. Just like Lukas did with EP IV: Laser Moon vs EP VI: Laser Moon 2. That *is* what a big part of the market thinks *they* want. But as you say, they (honestly, deep down) are never quite as immersed and transported by Laser Moon 2, or Ultra Mega Laser Moom as they were by the first one.
This video essay is so on point!! I've been an SF fan since my teenage years and I've always loved stories that have complex world-building. When reading (or watching) these kinds of stories, I would always find myself wanting to know more about how the society being presented works. All too often, big budget and well established franchises - like Star Wars or Star Trek - pander to the kind of flawed approach to nostalgia that you highlighted in your video (unfortunately, too often producers of these SF franchises seem to think that just throwing together a bunch of familiar fan references padded with a few formulaic action scenes is all that is needed to tell a story). It's really refreshing to watch a show like Andor that is avoiding these lazy shortcuts on the story telling and world-building fronts. The characters in Andor are not just "cardboard cutouts" thrown in for fan service, i.e. they have backstories and believable motivations that dictate their actions. Even the background characters that don't have much screen time (eg Cassien's friend Brasso or Syril's colleague Sgt Mosk) feel "real". You also get to see a more nuanced (and less morally clear) picture of the Rebel Alliance when the latter takes actions to manipulate the Empire to crack-down which in turn results with innocent people (or even whole populations) being placed in harms way. I wish this kind of complex narrative was more common in big SF franchises. I remember back in the 90s being pleasantly surprised by similar complexity in a couple of episodes from the last two "Dominion War" seasons of Star Trek DS9 where - instead of re-treading themes/tropes that had been visited dozens of times before in TNG or the Original Series - the DS9 Dominion War seasons served us episodes like "In the Pale Moonlight" and "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges" which presented what I thought was a more grounded/realistic view of how Star Fleet and the Federation might react to an enemy that could not be negotiated with. What these 2 DS9 episodes and the entire Andor series does so well is give us characters and situations that seem "real" and believable....i.e. characters and situations that sometimes cannot always be perfectly split between "right and wrong".
I have a theory that there is a misunderstanding in the order of priorities of "what makes a Star Wars". Where they appear to get things wrong is in the lived in setting, it's never convincing enough but Andor nailed it. The Star Wars universe is built in that, everything comes from it. You can have the creatures, aliens, Jedi and ship designes but if the world isn't a bit worn, it's not Star Warsy enough anymore.
That’s why those super colourful cyberpunks in Book of Boba Fett felt so out of place and tone deaf; they were way to clean and glossy, like characters from a different franchise that were surgically attached into Star Wars lol not lived in at all. I agree Andor does nail that very important aspect of Star Wars
Don't quote me on it, but I'm very convinced I heard Tony Gilroy say he wrote a good story first and weaved Star Wars into it.
It certainly feels like it.
@@kodakkevin The galaxy in Andor hasn't felt this lived in since Revenge of the Sith
@@kodakkevin Star Wars doesn't belong to anyone? Tell that to Nerdotic, Dave Cullen, and Ryan Kinel. They think it belongs to them. I am fond of the Prequels because I grew up watching them as my first blockbuster experience. It's heartbreaking to think that I laughed at those Jar Jar Binks bits since people say he was the worst part of the stories.
You are my favourite RUclips story teller. You tell the story with joy and passion. Amazing content.!!! If you plan to monetize your videos in the future, be careful how you use contents from others, it may cause copyright strike. Thank you
This is exactly why Rogue One worked so well. ‘Everything in moderation’ as they say. Great review, from a fellow realist 👍
I’ll be nostalgic for Andor 10 years from now.
Love that YT suggested your channel. Great video essay, and I agree that Andor is an excellent story that happens to take place in the SW universe. A new bar has been set for SW, let's hope they can meet it and not keep us waiting for Andor Season II.
Thank you!
As someone who tends to have an explicit dislike for nostalgia and anything related to it...Andor is the first Star Wars I've liked in a long time. Before that, it was Rogue One (which makes sense, in this case).
The Mandalorian was fun most of the time, but various instances kept it from being especially good for me (those being the excessive references to fan favorite characters and events from prior shows and movies).
But Andor is a whole other beast, and I loved it. I loved it so much, that what I want now most of all...is just a show about Brasso hopping from world to world on the run from the Empire, just being a good person and helping people by doing odd jobs and just being there for anyone. Maybe knocking some Imperial or pirate heads once in a great while. Just a genuinely good person who knows when and how to throw down, and doesn't have any space magic or anything. Just making his way in the galaxy the way certain others always say they do, but who are really just more assholes causing problems.
Superb - congratulations to you! That is most excellent analysis !
Great essay. Agree with lots of points. Ultimately a good story and less reliance on nostalgia which includes slower character development has turned some 'fans' off which is a pity but it's their loss. Indeed this is a top show, happens to be in Star Wars universe.
if Luthen turns out to be a former Jedi I will set fire to an orphanage
oh dear god that would be such a stupid reveal
Great video essay. Loved the simple, yet profound insight. I had been trying to put my finger on why it worked so well and I think you nailed it. Cheers
Andor succeeded where the sequels failed, it built upon an already established lore, while doing something completely different, without overusing nostalgia nor disrespecting the source material. Taking risks without sacrificing the integrity of the original works. It might be "the least" Star Wars show when it comes to key elements like The Force, The Jedi, lightsabers etc, but it nails the og Star Wars feel spiritually (at least imo).
There's something I disagree with thought, and that's suggesting Disney cares about canon, the Obi Wan series is so far the biggest canon breaker and largest retcon after Luke Skywalker's character assassination on epVIII, and most fans criticized Obi Wan based on that, it butchered pre stablished lore while also trying to have as much fanservice as possible, but somehow at the same time trying to be as anti-fan as possible, the same paradox that murdered the sequels. Andor just does its own thing, and focuses on delivering a good story that ads something new that fits the lore without disturbing it in a significant way.
This is an extremely well assembled analysis, and you're spot on! Thanks for this!
Thanks so much!
A well structured video essay that articulates exactly why Andor works and everything else just falls flat. The explanation of nostalgia works so well. You should check out the scene from the season one finale of Mad Men where Don Draper explains nostalgia and how to use it.
all we can hope is that more shows like Andor can be made.
Excellent video.... one can only pray the one person left at Disney sees this, learns something, and is in a position to change the Disney outlook. Either that or just let Tony Gilroy make all the Star Wars shows for the next 5 years. But imagine how intrusive Disney management will be once the start changing his work and ruining it.
The holy Trinity of Star Wars creators is now Tony Gilroy, Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni. I hope they are the captains of all Star Wars projects moving forward and Disney steps back haha
Andor kind of pissed me off. Earlier this year, the moment young Leia learned Obi-Wan's name, I finally had closure. I had finally gotten to the point where I realized I just don't need to care about Star Wars anymore. The creators certainly don't.
Then Andor came along and reminded me there is actually a story going on here. One that actually matters and can be engaged with.
I empathize with you. It would have been easier to ditch Star Wars altogether, and I almost did before Andor swept me off my feet
I am pretty sure that what hardcore SW fans really want is just respectful treatment of canon and established things in the universe. And a little bit of fanservice, nods to the other films and EU to let us know that we're in the SW universe. But we also want objectively good storytelling, like anyone else watching television.
Disney execs who don't understand this think that we want to see the same characters on the same planets doing the same things. But they don't prioritize good storytelling, and are willing to sacrifice having a good, satisfying plot in order to cram more Boba Fett/Tatooine/Chosen one Force User/Off-brand Death Star into the final product. That's how you get Book of Boba Fett, Obi Wan, and the Sequels.
Mando (and even the Mando episodes of BoBF) did a great job of centering Nostalgia without sacrificing storytelling. We still get the Baby Yoda/Boba Fett/Luke Skywalker/Tatooine/Mandalorian/Dark Trooper/Tusken Raider/Jawa/N1 Starfighter/Now This Is Podracing. But we also got good stories told by people who did their homework and genuinely respected the SW universe.
Andor managed to tell an entirely different kind of Star Wars story, eschewing all of the traditional SW themes that permeate the OT/Prequels/Clone Wars/Mando. But still clearly taking place in the SW universe, engaging with canon respectfully, in a way that lets the audience know that the writer and director knows all of the little nerdy details that we care about. And it's what makes what fanservice we *do* get all the more satisfying. Like the post-credit scene.
Also, I strongly disagree with Stanton's complaint about the "constraints" of canon. There have been so many amazing stories told within the Star Wars universe that don't break canon. It only "constrains" directors and writers without the imagination and creativity to tell a good story. And I think it's rich that someone who helped make Obi Wan is blaming canon for the show turning out like crap, when the real reason is just awful messy storytelling. Canon didn't force them to make the show revolve around Obi Wan rescuing 10-year-old Leia from Flea. Canon didn't force them to shoehorn a poorly-developed conflict arc with Vader. Canon didn't force them to give us an initially exciting Inquisitor villain who has a cookie-cutter heel-turn in the end. Canon did not force them to have a Hoth and TLJ derivative "rebels need to escape from cave base while Stormtroopers led by Sith break through the door". And Canon did not force them to have that godawful fight sequence between Reva and the Lars family. Obi Wan was bad because of careless, messy writing.
Andor is the first content that actually feels like Star Wars. At least for the people who read the novels.
Trying to fit the cannon was absolutely not the problem with Kenobi since Kenobi absolutely doesn't fit the cannon.
Andor was a Star wars story, just told from the perspective of the ordinary person, not the heroes or the villains, but those that are the cogs in the machine, and those ground into the dust under that machine. To those fans that want light sabers and the force, you can keep Obi-Wan, I'll take Andor any day.
Your wording sheds light on an angle I hadn’t recognized before, well put 👌🏻
Amen. Perfectly said.
Yep- if the issue were neutralizing nostalgia in the sense of putting the OT or even the prequels to bed permanently and just focusing on the current era, I'd say no. A large body of work exists spanning 5 decades and any part can be compared to any other part by any criteria people want. But THIS is spot on.
There are many flaws in the current era product that are not about nostalgia- it should have been possible to carry forward the story of the Jedi and Sith and the Skywalker lineage in the latest films, and that WAS the epic through line of events after all. Anything else would be like telling the aftermath of the Trojan war without focusing on any of its participants. On the other hand, it didn't have to be a mere mirror of the OT arc, nor did it have to be a mirror of the OT arc that happened to be less well written and performed, or just full of bigger and badder and less plausible imitation elements. That's poor writing and thinking fuelled by some nostalgia and assuming only nostalgia would sell tickets.
And maybe it was right, for the big movies. But Andor does what some of the other series like Mandalorian and Boba should also have done- take us away into the universe and tell other stories. And make no reference to the main movie characters. That is what SW TV should be able to do more of.
Beautiful take
I would recommend Andor to be seen first to someone who has never seen Star Wars.
if andor had been released after mandalorian season 1 for example, and not after 2 series that massively disapointed, it could have been a Hit
I agree! This was very well written and presented. There's been a lot of video essays recently about Andor, it's the new "it" media to talk about. For good reason, the show is phenomenal across the board! But what I've appreciated the most about your contribution to that conversation is the simple, considerate manner in which you do it. I honestly think there's been a lot of condescension floating around when talking about Andor. It is an understandable one borne of the very real disappointments in other Star Wars projects of which I share, but the bitter bite appearing in much of Andor's praise has felt taxing.
You made a point I've held for a while now, being that Star Wars doesn't belong to anyone in particular. We each have our own fantasies in that galaxy far, far away. And many, whether in praise or mild response to Andor, continue to try and put Star Wars in a box to determine what it should or should not be going forward. It's a bit of endless debate, always has been. So I appreciate you focusing on the principles of good storytelling and the larger *framework* it should operate within an established universe. I am not interested in nostalgia baiting and poor writing, but nor am I interested in only "HBO style gritty Star Wars for adults" from now on. Tony Gilroy excels at that kind of storytelling and I will giddily take more of it as it comes from him, but that's not the main thing I'm taking away from Andor. Star Wars is a large canvas, just as Lucas wanted it to be. And a skilled artist can paint whatever tone they like be it on the basis of what it all has to come back to regardless of that tone: a good story. That is what Andor reaffirms for me.
Looking forward to more of your content!
How to know people really don't care about most Disney live-action remakes, and even Disney themselves don't care much: I genuinely didn't know they remade Lady and the Tramp, one of my favorite niche Disney films from my childhood.
Given that it’s the least watched series, I wouldn’t say it’s solved that problem. Unless viewership really picks up, there will probably not be more shows and movies like it. I love that it doesn’t rely on cameos, references and previously established characters, but it would probably help the numbers if it looked and felt more like previous Star Wars.
At the very least I hope it changes how Star Wars is created yeah. Tony Gilroy deserves as much applause as Jon & Dave from Mandalorian
He really is super talented.
You totally mailed Andor at 5:48 - it doesn't pander to fans, it finds clever connections to exist beside. The writing gives added detail and nuance to established events - doesn't revisit them (displaced but rewarded with new information). IMO Andor is the best of all Disney Star Wars so far with Rogue One 2nd. Rogue gave a bit of fan service - super cool Vader going ham fan service - but didn't beat you over the head with it. Coincidence?
Maybe it's because I've never had to deal with a major writing project, but I've never really understood why existing canon is viewed as so restricting. As if authors can't write stories unless they're working with a completely blank canvas? The mere idea of a character or event that didn't come from their imaginations is paralyzing?
I view it like the artistic exercise where you start with a few random squiggles on the paper, and draw a creature or a scene that uses, works with and incorporates those lines. Or like the "Yes, and..." mentality of Improv theater.
Hundreds of episodes of Star Trek that have given you a rich trove of worldbuilding? SOOO CONFINING!!! Let me write a generic action movie instead.
Dozens of beloved Star Wars novels that you can pick and glean characters and inspiration from? EW! Throw THAT in the garbage. Let's make up brand new characters that we won't develop because we also bring back famous ones that we have no idea what to do with.
I think what you’re describing actually aligns with Andrew Stanton’s point; keep in mind Disney literally removed decades of Star Wars books canon so they could establish their own messy canon, which according to Andrew is severely limiting and doesn’t allow for much creativity in storytelling. He might have wanted to pull other characters or locations or whatever from that discarded canon.
As much as I like your take with the artistic exercise example, I think of it more as a construction project;
I find it’s more surprising to expand and branch out off what was built, exploring elsewhere, like making an entire new building (hence Andor’s tangential storytelling) instead of simply building more floors into the same skyscraper like Kenobi does.
@@kodakkevin Good points.
Another analogy might be that it's like the challenge of maintaining backwards compatibility in a software project, and you're locked into bad decisions of the past while you need simultaneously add features and fix problems.
Maybe the distinction might not be that "Canon is restricting" but "bad stories are hard to build off of". (Which is an unintentional pun to your skyscraper analogy, but I fully stand by it)
There are tens of thousands of different beers even though a proper beer according to tradition can only have four ingredients.
And don't get me started about wines.
@@kodakkevin It's no different than making a period piece. You have to have research and consistency. Some of these directors and writers claiming they can't make a good story while respecting consistency seem to be making excuses. Andor, which is incredibly consistent with established canon and lore - even more than it needed to be, proved that point. As for Obi-Wan, it's not a fair comparison. Obi-Wan is a character from the main Skywalker Saga. If you're going to make it at all, it needs to fit within that story. It would be have been crazy to have the Obi-Wan series about some completely unrelated adventure to the main job he has in this period. Obi-Wan did what it needed to do, and Andor did what it needed to do.
@@kodakkevin alot of that previous canon was garbage
Great Essay. How I long for the original 5 seasons of Andor instead of craming in 4 years into a single season. Even if they introduced new characters that die at the end of the season, I just want continue the richness of the story telling Tony and his writers can give us.
Good video pretty much lining up with my feelings about why Andor works so well for me. The setting and production design do all the heavy lifting making me feel like I'm in the Star Wars universe. It's something that I did when I was a concept artist working on Star Wars Jedi Outcast way back when. I had to design locations and props that looked like they would fit in the SW universe but be new. In Andor we see the ship that he takes off on from Morlana 1 has Y-wing type of engines, and boom, you know know you're in Star Wars. Looking at the tech and grabbing pieces and putting them in places really helps jog that nostalgia. The writing doesn't have to rely on adhering to settings we know or dialog that always references something. Gilroy probably didn't care what the production design was doing because I'm guessing he knows that they will make it feel like the era of Star Wars we're nostalgic for.
Simple. Smart. Effective and wise.
I've watched quite a lot of videos about reviews of Andor. Yours is what I just wrote.
Refreshing too.
I genuenly dont get what people are talking about when they say this does not feel like Star Wars. It feels in tune with both Clone Wars, and the prequels ...
I love your definition and breakdown of nostalgia
the way andor was written reminds me of the way logan was written.
Great video!
Brilliant essay. I’ve been trying to put my finger on the success of Andor. It’s adjacent and somehow at the core of the original trilogy. A neutralized nostalgia, if you will. Thx for the insights!
Thank you for the feedback!
Excellent explanation, and brilliant hook at the end 👏👏 👏
Thanks!
I feel like anyone who's engaged in star wars outside of the main movies could tell you that star wars isn't defined by the Jedi but by it's world building. In fact I think a series of movies completely divorced from Jedi could be fantastic if written well in a well built setting. I also think the idea of something not feeling star wars is reductive as each movie is different and iteration is the future not repetition.
👍🏻 agreed. Star Wars is so much more than jedi. And I think when something doesn’t feel like Star Wars that’s a good thing, it’s supposed to expand and find fresh new identity and stories
yes, pretty much spot on - add to which, you had scriptwriters who knew how to tell a story, how to tell a nuanced story arc over 12 episodes, and make it all count. Imagine what these guys could have done with Kenobi, which was a crushing disappointment, just overflowing with illogic and wrong notes and storytelling blunders of all kinds
I don't know how I got here, maybe I've been watching to many reviews and opinions on the internet about Andor, but yours is really good as the other ones I've seen, but you talk about something different, never saw it from this point of view and that also explains why is soo good, never saw this point of view about nostalgia... So interesting! Hope we see more dissection of Andor. I mean let's be honest it doesn't have as much action as other SW stuff and I like that.. but still I can't find why I liked it so much more. And the more reviews and videos of Andor I see, the more I understand it. They nailed a lot of things!
Thank you very much! There’s plenty to breakdown that Andor executes well. I swear it’s set a new standard
Deep, thoughtful, critical, original. Love it! More content like this💯
The thing with nostalgia is that it gets your foot in the door. Prequel and original trilogy nostalgia got Book of Boba Fett and Kenobi’s foots in the door, but the story failed to make us stay. Andor’s source material didn’t hold much nostalgia in the first place, and therefore had to put all the stock into making us believe in its story.
Also, I remember a lot of people wondering why Cassian of all people was chosen as the main character, as there was little to build upon from his appearance in Rouge One. Personally, I believe that was 100% intentional. Using a character that the audience isn’t extremely familiar with limits Disney’s power to meddle with the series, (no riding the nostalgia train and changing scripts based on appeal for the good old days). And as you said, they can do anything with Cassian’s character. All that matters is that he’s a passionate rebel by the end of the series. There’s so much to be told before that point, and it seems like most are staying for that ride till the end.
I intuitively knew that this was why I thoroughly enjoyed Andor. I just never could've put it in such a succinct and poignant way that so descriptive, it seems poetic almost.
Great essay man. 🙏
Thank you!
andor feels the most like starwars.. seriously the originals hardly had jedi or sith . are all the complainer prequel kids? the rebellion's cause was centre stage with a jedi helping lol
Andor is so good that when I'm watching it I forget that it's a Star Wars show lol.
I agree with you...being saddled by canon restricts creativeness for the writers. I think this is also why The Mandalorian is successful, too. Not just because of Jon and Dave, but because they've taken us OUT of the typical Star Wars backstory. They've given us enough "Easter Eggs" to let us know the story takes place is the SW universe, but we get new heroes, villains, planets and plot lines to love/hate, and anticipate the next episode/season.
I very much enjoy Mandalorian, but I wouldn't say it's far removed from typical Star Wars. I mean... there's a baby Yoda... and Luke shows up. But it is at least straying a bit more into territory forged via Clone wars and other star wars universe programming -vs- rehashing Darth Vader all the time. Especially with season 2 though it's like an advertisement for all of Disney's other spinoff projects. I don't mean to criticize it too much, I enjoy it and I can watch it w/ my young children whereas Andor feels for an older audience.
Mandalorian to me is the bridge between the Star Wars canon Disney literally removed and their new canon that’s sort of messy, I’m so impressed with what Jon & Dave pulled off
@@kodakkevin Legends/EU was extremely messy - and quite poor and ridiculous in a lot of areas. It was a great move to not be bound by it.
I hope none of these directors or writers complaining that they can't be creative within an established world ever have to tell a story in a historical period era.
@@Daniel-Strain not only was it a great move, it was pretty much the only move.
smart take on a fantastic show
In the end, Andor felt the most Star Wars out of any of the Disney shows thus far. I believe 80% of that is the English accents.
Excellent video essay! I secretly hope that Disney studio executives watch videos like this to hopefully learn from its fan base how it has failed the SW franchise in the past and how it can correct it going forward. Andor and Rogue One have saved the future of SW. Hopefully they have learned their lessons and can salvage what remains of its fanbase.
Watched the whole thing, subbed and thumbs upd. Hope you make more videos!
Thanks so much!
Errant was here
I mean BoBF is indefensibly bad in almost every way, especially on Tatooine, but it does establish that it's different without the Huts. It just doesn't do it very well, and it looks cheaply made. I'd say Jakku in TFA, Jedha in Rogue One, and Tatooine in Kenobi are the bigger culprits for making Star Wars feel boring. Very little happens on Andor's planets except the Empire bullying people. Same problem with Kenobi and the sequels. Lucas' saga had different hostiles or obstacles beyond just storm troopers and imperial officers. So Andor is just more of the same schtick we've been fed since 2015. It just does it with a little better writing.
"Rewarded with new information"
Except that this new information goes nowhere. We know what happens. This is just filling blanks and backstory like Kenobi and Rogue One. It's redundant. You don't need to know any of it to know where the Empire came from and how it was destroyed. And that's the problem with Disney and Star Wars; they don't really know what to do with the brand.
"It doesn't pander to fans"
There seems to be a snobbery about Disney Star Wars and existing characters. Rogue One is nothing but pandering. And this is a spin off of that pandering. Name dropping Palpatine adds nothing to the scene. We don't need to see him. But we also don't need his name mentioned. We don't need this show at all.
Let's be real, Stanton didn't co-write Kenobi. It was written by Beattie, rewritten by Amini and then by Harold. Stanton may have done some doctoring, but the ideas in the show were flawed from the start. The reason they were 'constrained" is because they wanted to force in a Leia subplot and 'rematch' with Vader where it didn't belong. There's 100 better ways to write a Kenobi story in that time period and none of them involve contriving ways to include Leia and Vader, or a Reva character 'saving' Luke. Stanton was clearly talking about being frustrated with the limitations he was given to work within, rather than telling an actual Kenobi story that made sense for the character i.e. not fighting Vader, Reva, rescuing Leia.
We could contrive Andor into a story about bumping into baby Luke Skywalker and rescuing him from the sarlacc pit, but there's just no point in doing that. It's not that Andor has more freedom than Kenobi in making filler content, it's that Kenobi was conceived to be contrived trash.
We could have had a story of Obi-Wan communing with Qui-Gon and going deep into the cosmic force, the living force, destiny, failure, betrayal, mentorship, magic, all within him inside a cave or canyon on Tatooine. Or it could have started with Kenobi pre-TPM with Qui-Gon, and a young Dooku and skipped to between TPM and AOTC, and then skipped to the day after Kenobi brought Luke to the ranch in ROTS. It could have had Obi-Wan going into force sensitive caves and seeing visions of fighting or confronting Anakin.
Sadly though, it wasn't interested in connecting the trilogies together. It just wanted to use two popular PT characters/actors and smash them together like it was nearly ANH.
Your summary at the end of the video is exactly what I’ve been thinking when trying to put my finger on why the show was so good. My wife is a Star Wars fan but not a card carrying member like myself 😂. And as these Disney+ ST shows started coming out one after another I noticed her interest decreasing. We went from watching season 1 Mandalorian together the day each episode premiered to eventually me watching by myself and her not caring at all by the time Kenobi or whichever the last show rolled out. I feel like she would like Andor because of the reasons you gave. And hopefully rebuild our Star Wars relationship 😅 If I could only get her to give it a chance 😊
Fingers crossed you return her to the light side of the force and she enjoys Andor! 😅
@@kodakkevin In my opinion each episode of Andor got better than the previous one.
Great video, really hit the nail on the head
Andor is the most Star Wars thing since the 1980s
Awesome vid!
Great video! Loved it! :)
When I was watching the sennet scenes I was expecting to see Palpatine and I was so glad I didn't.
This is an excellent grasp and effectual communication of the nuances of the nature of successful series. If more creators were concerned less with spectacle and more with good storytelling, then it would make the final product rewatchable and more satisfying upon revisiting the franchise over and over again.
Love it. The only piece of Star Wars than Andor relied on is what the empire is and how far reaching it is. It saved some time that would have been spent on world building and got right in to creating something new. But if you strip out star wars completely you could still have just as good of a story with a little bit of extra time to establish the world.
Doesn't surprise me Andor works. This is the direction Disney should have gone from the start. Rogue One really fit the bill for me for that reason
A very good video, and Andor is absolutely my favourite series in the SW anthology, though I am starting to feel like I'm the only one who enjoyed Kenobi
It's odd, it feels the least like star wars and in turn the most like star wars, as George always saw it fit to switch things up
Andor was so different that I am actually not sure how I feel about it. I think I like it overall but it had some spots that made me question why they were in there...like Syril's storyarch seemed kinda pointless to me. Whenever we went back to him I was like: This better pay off big, because right now it's not really interesting.
I thought it was boring AF apart from the heist and the escape. A Star Wars universe without the Force is not Star Wars.
This show is proof that Disney had the potential to make an actually good sequel trilogy but squandered it.
Couldn’t have said it better myself
I never thought I would see a show like Andor. It's fills such a specific niche that I've felt SW needed for a long time. It's dark, gritty, and not sugar-coated at all. Andor is to Star Wars as Deep Space 9 is to Star Trek.
I think where Disney usually goes wrong is that they tend to make the universe a story rather than tell a story set in the universe. I think that's why people are so fed up and why andor really shines as it actually understands star wars even though the guy who wrote isn't even a fan.
F*cking brilliant analysis, 10/10 no notes!
I'm always afraid of clicking Star Wars content because of the fan base attached to it lol You've got a good thing going though and I thoroughly enjoyed this video and the reflection on nostalgia!
Totally reasonable hesitation, I get it 😅 thanks for checking out my video and the compliment!
Kenobi and BoBF could have both been good, nostalgic shows. Disney should quit whitewashing other properties they acquire. They’ve been doing it with fairy tales and they’re going out of their way to retcon and re-brand. Who actually thought Boba Fett would be more interesting as a wannabe crime lord with no crime? There was no outcry over the name “Slave I”. We also didn’t need Leia getting kidnapped over and over again and none of that show convinces me there was ever room for her and Obi-Wan to have adventures together when she doesn’t react to his death or even address him in any familiar sense in her recorded plea sent with R2. Bad writing is bad writing, nostalgic or not.
Nicely said
Thanks
Thank you for your video. I really think you know what you’re talking about I subscribe.
don't know about you, but I was doing the screaming wojak meme when Luthen gave Cassian that crystal on the fourth episode just because he said that it's a crystal that commemorate the fall of the Rakatan Empire
that line was a total fanservice and I fell for it willingly
BoBF is definitely bland, as are nearly all the Disney projects on Star Wars. Andor is the same, though. Nobody is dreaming of going to Ferrix or Aldhani. Rogue One was heavy on the nostalgia bait. Andor has nothing to do with Star Wars except theme, in a time period already played out, between rebels and Empire already played out. People are going crazy because this show actually makes an efforts with practical locations and a plot that isn't contrived, but it hardly solves Disney's problems. It's just doing what DC did; fracturing its fan base.
Sure there are Star Wars fans that only like 2 out of Lucas' 6 movie saga, and even those two movies they want to be totally different, but Andor is so bland it can't survive on its own. It's space Homeland with a little Jason Bourne. For some bizarre reason, they chose to make a show with creative choices that are the opposite of Star Wars, even though they make no difference to the plot.
Why does Luthen have a talking ship (like Star Trek or Iron Man) and why does his ship destroy TIEs so quickly when the franchise is about dog fights?
Why does the bland little droid speak English and stutter (like buck Rogers)?
Why jump between planets and name them on screen, instead of moving from one location to the next through storytelling like the saga Lucas made?
Why avoid aliens or alien languages?
Why waste so much time walking into and out of the scene, or walking around in general, when Star Wars has speeders or creatures to ride in basically every movie?
Why have the on the nose AK47 when the PT and OT never had weapons that look like this, when it's already clear they are revolutionaries?
Why have these boring flashbacks, when the saga was made as a documentary style story told through R2?
None of these things add anything to the franchise or the show. It's like they are too ignorant to know that they're doing it, or just don't care it doesn't fit at all, while achieving nothing. If there was a story reason for changing these things it would make sense, but they remove well established noises, cues and designs that are part of why the brand is popular. No wonder the viewership was so low.
Nice vid dude!
Thank you!
@@kodakkevin you’re Welcome! Small Creators Stronger Together 💪
Andor tells the story of how the average galactic citizen become a rebel, not just the story of the elite warriors and force users. And with many of the Jedi dead and thought of as mythical or even hoaxster by average people, it’s an interesting story to watch the spirit of the rebellion survive and even strike heavy blows against the Empire like the Aldani heist and later the theft of the Death Star plans before the Jedi re-emerged.
I hope the critical acclaim that the series is getting is noticed by Disney execs. Let artist do what they do best. You might end up with something new and unique, which is in such short supply nowadays, especially with Disney.
You hit on exactly the reason why I felt Andor was so good. It focused on telling an intriguing store without having to worry about upsetting the canon. Because it focused on a character (and his adjacent characters) that didn’t have 20~50+ years of history-and with that confirmed canon, legacy quasi-canon, and fans’ own imagination and expectations of where the Star Wars universe and its long time occupants are behave.
Same reason Rebels, The Mandalorian, and to a lesser extent, Bad Batch succeed(ed).
Projects like Solo, TBoBF, and Kenobi (and to a point the sequel trilogy) were focused on hitting check marks in timeline, and “look at what this iconic fan favorite is doing that you haven’t seen them do before”, rather than adding substantially more substance to them. Of course there are other flaws with those projects, I’m just saying a few of my observations.