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Diego Luna explains why Andor stands out from Star Wars series

Diego Luna was recently at an awards show, and he explained how lucky he feels that Andor is given the freedom to be different from the rest of Star Wars.

Diego Luna as Cassian Andor in Star Wars Andor

Andor has been praised for standing out from other movies and TV shows in the Star Wars universe. Being less concerned with Easter Eggs, cameos and fan service, and more with telling a compelling story that happens to exist within the Star Wars universe seems to have served it well. It has been the most critically-acclaimed of the Disney Plus Star Wars series so far.

Speaking to IndieWire on the red carpet at the Critics Choice Awards, “When people talk about Star Wars as one thing, it’s too heavy. I’m here because Andor is being celebrated, and Andor happens to be a part of the Star Wars family. But it’s its own thing, you know? And that’s one of the reasons Andor has been so celebrated, because it’s different. It’s its own. It’s exactly what we wanted to do.”

Luna says that Tony Gilroy and the other writers have a lot of freedom, despite being tied to Star Wars; “And it feels great and weird at the same time. Because we are a part of Star Wars, but we are different from anything else that Star Wars brings. And I guess I’m just very lucky to have such freedom in a show that is part of Star Wars.”

Andor has been praised for focuses on the ordinary, working poor people in the galaxy and what their daily lives are like under the oppression of the Empire. While there are heroes of a kind, it’s more about standing up to a dictatorship in any small way possible rather than the bigger heroism we’re used to seeing in the Star Wars movies.

The second season of Andor is going to cover more time than the first season did, and there will be time-jumps between some episodes. It will focus on Cassian (Diego Luna) going from revolutionary to leader, gearing up to the events we saw in 2016’s Rogue One.

While we wait for more details on the second season, check out our guide to the Andor cast.