A single quote from George Lucas is the best proof that Andor does fit in with the Star Wars creator’s original vision. Andor is the latest Star Wars series to release on streaming service Disney plus. It is the latest instalment in the ever growing Star Wars franchise that was kicked off by George Lucas back in 1978 with A New Hope – one of the best movies of all time.
Since then, the galaxy far, far away has only continued to grow. The prequel trilogy was a big departure from what came before, and the sequel trilogy forged its own (controversial) path too. There have also been plenty of Star Wars projects for TV, including animated series, and live-action TV series such as The Mandalorian which gave us the unforgettable Baby Yoda.
Andor is the latest of these, and is currently in the middle of its first season. It’s a prequel to the Star Wars movie Rogue One, exploring how Cassian Andor became involved in the machinations of the rebellion against the Empire and Emperor Palpatine. It’s taken Star Wars in an all-new direction, focussing on espionage and tension with a more grounded approach, and it’s received some criticism from Star Wars fans for this claiming that the series doesn’t fit in with Lucas’s morally straightforward original vision.
However, for the doubters, there’s one quote from George Lucas that will prove you wrong, demonstrating that Andor does fit in with his hopes for the science fiction movie franchise. Speaking to Rolling Stone in one of his very first interviews about Star Wars, Lucas said “The people are there, the environment is there, the Empire is there, and now [other directors] will start building on [Star Wars]. It’s a competition…friends of mine will want to do a much better film, like ‘I’ll show George that I can do a film twice that good.’ And I think they can.”
So, it’s clear that Lucas always intended for his passion project to be taken in new directions by other creative minds. Andor is certainly succeeding in doing that, and proving that there is a whole galaxy of stories that is is possible to tell in the Star Wars universe without relying on what we’ve seen before.
While pretty much every piece of Star Wars media since the end of the Original Trilogy has been controversial in one way or another, Andor has been met with overwhelming critical acclaim. Hopefully, this quote from George Lucas will make the detractors of the sci-fi series in the Star Wars fanbase think again. The series is a breath of fresh air, and we hope it never changes.
For more Andor related fun, check out our guide to Luthen Rael’s plan, or why Admiral Yularen showed up in the series.