This $290 Million Sci-Fi Season Is Proof That Disney+ Still Needs “Event TV”

Disney has certainly put the $4 billion it paid to purchase Lucasfilm to good use, crowding the market with many streaming shows based on its Star Wars properties. While many of these shows require viewers to have extensive knowledge of the universe, particularly Dave Filoni's animated projects, Andor was a series that met Star Wars fans with different levels of interest. Those who were deeply invested in the lore were given details about the birth of the Rebel Alliance that had previously only been hinted at, and those with more passing knowledge were able to keep up because the series begins before the events of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. However, Andor was also a bravura piece of dramatic television that connected with those without any knowledge of Star Wars; by showing a side of the universe that wasn’t affected by the Force and the Skywalker saga, creator Tony Gilroy crafted an eerily relevant epic about how tragedy incites insurgencies to wage war against fascism.

The inception of Andor is a fascinating one that began during the now-infamously chaotic production of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which Gilroy was brought in to save with rewrites and extensive reshoots. Although it turned out to be a fairly satisfying Star Wars adventure, the 2016 spinoff film wasn’t quite the gritty, brutal war film that the early trailers had suggested that it might be. Andor became the first truly “mature” Star Wars project because it examined the political subtext that had been present within the original concept for the franchise created by George Lucas, who began his career during the height of the Vietnam War and the political paranoia of the Richard Nixon administration. Andor isn’t just the most successful Star Wars project released during Kathleen Kennedy’s tenure at Lucasfilm, but is one of the most impressive achievements in the history of television.

‘Andor’ Was More Than Another Star Wars Show

Andor was based on the realities of the Star Wars universe that were established in the original trilogy, as the series takes place after the Galactic Empire has expanded across the galaxy and made efforts to take down democracy in the Senate. While Diego Luna reprises his role as a younger version of the future rebel hero Cassian Andor, the series follows multiple characters before the founding of the Rebel Alliance and the dawn of the Death Star. While Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly) has tried to maintain civility within the Senate, the hope of a peaceful rebellion has passed now that Imperials like Dedra Meero (Denise Gough) have been assigned to target resistance groups. Cassian’s radicalization is prompted by the political radical Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgård), who understands that those who have witnessed tragedy are the most instrumental in waging war. The Rebel Alliance of Andor is not idealized; while some terrible actions are committed, it’s more harmful to sit back and become passive to the spread of evil.

Andor exists in a moral grey zone where none of the characters are clear-cut heroes or villains. Despite being from a franchise known for its striking, memorable antagonists, one of the main villains in Andor is Syril Karn (Kyle Soller), a bookish Imperial agent who develops an obsession with Cassian after nearly being killed in a firefight. Even though Syril is pathetic in his personal life and constantly embarrassed, Andor shows how the unchecked animosity of angry men can be transformed into a lethal weapon by totalitarian regimes that feed on bloodshed. Even though Syril would seemingly do anything to become a hero of the Empire, he’s fighting for an institution that does not remember him. Syril’s meekness is a striking contrast to a character like Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker), a radical anti-fascist who is so driven by a desire to dominate that he’s only perpetuated the cycle of violence.

‘Andor’ Was the Relevant, Political Series of the Moment

Andor is also a masterclass in structure because Gilroy divides the season into three-episode arcs that chart the progression of Cassian’s growth alongside the formalization of the Rebel Alliance and increased hostility from the Imperials. It’s a structure that could only have worked on streaming television because it allowed for viewers to be completely immersed in the storytelling, particularly in the standout arcs that highlighted individual set pieces. Season 1 featured an unforgettable prison break sequence involving Andy Serkis that drew parallels to the dehumanization of incarcerated individuals, and Season 2 included a fiery speech from Mothma that dared to say the word “genocide,” even when most of today’s media outlets would not. While it is certainly not escapist in the way that other Star Wars shows have been, Andor still delivered the type of riveting action that makes the franchise so unique; with no Force powers to protect the characters, the action scenes in Andor had real weight and tension.

Although much has been reported about Andor Season 2's $290 million budget, this investment is worth it, especially compared to some of the expensive films that Disney has made that haven’t paid off. Andor has value because it is a complete story that enriches the franchise and will become rewatchable in the years to come, and doesn't just exist to tease another upcoming project. There’s also a level of detail and precision within Andor that makes it worth revisiting, as it would be impossible to soak up all the deep references and allusions after only watching the entire series once. It’s unlikely that another series like Andor will ever be made within the Star Wars universe under Filoni’s tenure, as his interpretation of the universe is very different from Gilroy’s. However, the importance of Andor extends beyond its implications for Disney's IP, as the series raises important questions about the power of the individual. The now-iconic manifesto from Karis Nemick (Alex Lawther), which includes lines such as “authority is brittle” and “oppression is the mask of fear,” has a more significant context than anything else in the galaxy far, far away.